Best movie of this year hands down!

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Many gangsters movies have tried to look cool, but end up as wannabees. "Thief" is the real thing. Or as close to it as I have seen it. The screenplay was actually written by an ex-thief and the tools used in the heist were real and were provided for by ex-thiefs who were used as "technical advisors" on this movie.Director Michael Mann's debut has everything in it that a cool heist movie needs. It is probably for that reason that this classic is on Quentin Tarantino's list of favorite gangster movies. Starring James Caan as a guy you really really dont wanna mess with, playing a specialist in cracking high end security safes. After a big heist James Caan gets cut out by a crimeboss of his deserved share of the loot and responds by threatening him that he has got 24 hours to deliver his share or "he will wear his ass as a hat"."Thief", is a gangster classic, wherein men are real men. And James Caan is as cool as it gets. But Caan's character is still a human with needs and imperfections. A part of the movie is dedicated to his wish to settle down with a wife and kids and get out of the heist business. I think the time given to learn to know Caan's character is essential. It is done with broad strokes and in short conversations with his wife and friend. But those words are very powerful and I must restrain myself to not literally copy and paste them into this review. The dialogues in this movie are really to die for. Caan co produced this movie and I truly think it is one of his best roles ever. Great supporting role of James Belushi too. "The hell with me, the hell with you, with everything" is James Caan's motto. No attachments. Walk away in a second and burn everything behind you. This cold gangsters view of life is also a recurring theme in another classic of Michael Mann called "Heat", starring Robert de Niro and Al Pacino. You GOTTA see that movie if you are into heist movies!"Thief" features a mesmerizing soundtrack by Tangerine Dream. Music has always played a lead part in ALL of Michael Mann's movies. This soundtrack really is gorgeous and creates a constant mood of alienation. It can become too dominant sometimes, but often the music really enhances the suspense."Thief" is a slowburner. Tension is built up slowly. The climax only comes at the very end. Don't expect big shootouts or action movie heists with "Mission Impossible" break in schemes. Everything is done like a real professional heist man would do it: low key. However James Caan's character is nothing close to low key. The man is a volcano waiting to errupt. And explode he will...

Plot; A jewel thief's plans for a normal family life are disrupted when he strikes a deal with a powerful high end fence.Michael Mann's signature style is already fully formed in his first feature film. All of the hallmarks are there, if not quite yet perfected. But it's all held together by an exceptional performance from James Caan. He rarely gets mentioned in the same breath as contemporaries like De Niro, Pacino and Hackman, but at his best he's absolutely their equal and perhaps their better. Well, maybe not Hackman. Dude's the G.O.A.T. in my book, for whatever that's worth.

You liked the audio-visual-style of Escape from New York and Terminator? Then you gonna love this movie. Every night scene from start on looks marvellous, and there are shots in this film which are unbelievable for the time it was made.Also the score from famous electro-group Tangerine Dream fits the style very well, and helps to build some tension if needed.But this movies strongest point is the protagonist, which is needed, because this movie is a incredible character driven story, which has to stand on the performance of it's leading man James Caan. And he does a great job, most of the best scenes in this film have to do with his performance, but also everyone else does a great job, and never fails to deliver.It's a very human, non-Hollywood story, which could be alienating for people who expect something else, after reading what it's about. It sounds like a typical "protagonist wants to do one last job before he lives a normal life"-stories, but it's different in it's approach on how to tell this story.All in all a nearly underrated movie, with great style and character-focus, which should not be missed...

The 1980's seemed to define what is to be expected of a crime movie. It was an era of machine guns, tooth-picks and body oil, with little attention paid to the all-important details. Michael Mann's Thief was an ultra-slick, ice cool and, most astonishingly, highly realistic alternative, which is very impressive given that this was Mann's feature debut. The film revolves around James Caan's safe- cracker Frank, a career criminal looking for one big score before retiring. We meet him mid-job, using a specially-designed drill to steal the diamonds locked within. We are given little background to his character, but, like the rest of the film, the history is embedded within every frame.Mann, wanting the film to be as close to real-life as possible, employs real cops and criminals as actors, reversing their roles to further blur the line between the 'good' and 'bad' guys. John Santucci, a recently paroled jewel thief, plays a corrupt cop, and Dennis Farina, in his first movie role, was a real-life ex-cop and here plays a criminal henchman. The idea that the cops and robbers are merely two sides of the same coin was explored further in Mann's 1995 masterpiece Heat. With Thief, it feels like we are thrust into this very real but secret world of crime, where Frank, who works alone when possible or employs his entrusted friend Barry (James Belushi) when necessary, agrees to work for shady crime boss Leo (Robert Prosky, who, along with Belushi and Farina, makes his film debut).With so much time spent with Frank (he appears in every scene), a lot rests upon Caan's shoulders, and he thankfully delivers what is undoubtedly his greatest performance. He's the typical tough-guy loner, but he brings so much to his character that we see much more in him than a mere brute. In the diner scene, where he seduces cashier Jessie (Tuesday Weld) and lays out his plans to start a family, Caan's marvellous monologue further layers his character. But Thief is also an exciting thriller. Thanks to the plausibility of it's characters, it's easy to become concerned when a spanner is inevitably thrown into Frank's plans. If there's a criticism to be had, then it's in the formulaic plot. But when a film seems to know it's characters so well and is filmed so stylishly by cinematographer Donald E. Thorin, it's hard to avoid becoming completely immersed.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com