Wazootyman

Just got back from a free screening of The Good Thief with Nolte, I enjoyed it a bit. Nothing that was fantastic, but it was pretty fun. Nolte did kind of grate on me for a little bit at the start though. I mean his voice sounded incredibly odd, I'm not sure if he's always sounded like that, or if it's the chemicals.

My only problem with it is that it's a heist movie, and it seems like it's trying to be Ocean's 11. Some of the eccentricities of the characters just seem kind of cheap to add to the "fun" factor. Barring that fact, it's still a good time

MrN

This film is supposed to have been inspired by Bob Le Flambeur - have you seen that one? And if so, how do rank against each other?

Wazootyman

Haven't even heard of that one. I hadn't even heard of The Good Thief until a couple days ago when my friend told me that she had free tickets, and invited me to come

Giles

I am not a big Nolte fan, but his character really grew on me. I really quite enjoyed it, one of the heist men..er.. (you'll see) is a tad too surreal. Great score and fantastic camerawork (which in the wrong hands might have been a distraction) compliments not only Nolte's performance but a multi-international cast. The AFI is going to show "Bob Le Flambeur" in a couple of weeks, can't wait to see it and compare it to Jordan's version.

badger1997

I caught it tonight and really enjoyed it. It was starting to piss me off at the beginning, but once the heist got going, it had me. Great performance by Nolte and the rest of the cast (although I agree with Wazootyman about his voice. Sounded strange like it was looped weird or something.)

Overall it was a good movie and I would recommend it. A lot of fun and actually more stylish and interesting than Ocean's 11 in my opinion. Now I really want to see the original. Is it available on DVD and if anybody has seen both, can they compare them?

rkndkn

Thought it started off a bit slowly, but really became engrossing. I've always enjoyed Nick Nolte's work, and seeing him again makes me realize how much I've missed his films. I thought the film had some great dialogue and visuals.

I saw "Bob Le Flambeur" a while back on the Criterion DVD. Unfortunately, I don't recall it that well and couldn't give you a good comparison. All I know is that while watching "The Good Thief", the storyline never nudged a memory from "Bob Le Flambeur". Had I not already known it was based on that, I would NOT have been reminded of the earlier film. (Except, of course, Tcheky Karyo actually says "Bob le Flambeur" at one point when describing Bob Montagnet.)

As far as "heist/caper" films go, I saw "Confidence" one day before "The Good Thief" and thought "The Good Thief" was a notch above. Absolutely love Ed Burns, but "Confidence" felt a bit more awkwardly constructed and had some weak dialogue.

MrN

I just saw The Good Thief this afternoon and while it was interesting as a remake, doesn't hold a candle to the original.

The good - the did a successful update to the story, showing Paris as a cultural melting pot and the introduction of drugs and transexuals into the plot. Also good was the complexity added to the story with the double/triple crosses. Making it about the paintings had me guessing, but (spoilers below about the plot of Bob Le Flambeur and Good Thief below):


The bad - the film seemed to be made too fast especially early on - they had to rush through the whole addiction thing which wasn't in the original. It did get better as the film went, but what was up with the frame freezing each time they cut. I don't know what effect they were going for, but it was really distracting.
The characters seemed less defined - especially Bob but again this is in comparison to the original. Generally speaking we don't really get to know any of the supporting characters other than 'what do they want?'

5/10

Sunday Morning

I really liked the good thief, I also really liked bob le flambeur.

The good thief is definetly more about style and of course melville's film is almost the opposite of that. I think both versions work in their own right. If I had to compare the two, I would give melville the edge, but if I had to say which film was more enjoyable and fun to watch, jordan's version takes that prize.

So, it's a case of the remake actually being a good idea (Which is a rare thing) It doesn't try to imitate the original, but gives it something a little different. Probably at the expense of the film's weight. It does come off as somewhat trite, but I appreciated the 2 hours spent watching it.

Grade: A-

Geofferson

I really want to see this, however, I want to see Bob le Flambeur first. Hopefully this will still be in theatres by the time I get it in the mail.

tonyj

Just saw Good Thief last night and loved it. One of the best films I've seen in a while. Nolte is a lot like Robert Mitchem- tough, intelligent, conflicted... Makes for a very interesting character. The style and mood of the film was excellent. It reminded me of the look of the latest "Get Carter", but wasn't quite as distracting. It was pretty thick and layered with great writing. Lots of little touches, like the assistant detective that was always practicing card tricks. I saw the movie after seeing a ton of summer trailers (including Hulk and Matrix) and I'd just seen X-men 2 the night before, and realized that "The Good Thief" was in many ways more enjoyable.

F For Fake

I really enjoyed "The Good Thief" a great deal more than I expected to. In fact I find myself thinking about it from time to time, and will probably catch it again before it's gone.

I found it amusing that I found the international cast much easier to understand than Nolte, the American, "English-speaking" actor. I was fairly certain I'd need a Nolte-to-English translator. I was hoping for subtitles at times. Oh well.

I still really enjoyed Nolte though. The character has a certain charm.

One thing which shocked my friends: I HATED the chick. Holy crow. I mean, she was hot and all, but I couldn't STAND the way she talked. This long, slow, monotone. Blah. But my friends loved her, so what do I know?

Geofferson

Just watched The Good Thief and thought it was quite good. Not as good as the original, yet good in its own respect. Nice role for Nolte.

HistoryProf

Rented this yesterday and watched it last night and I enjoyed it immensely...an excellent film in all respects....a great companion to Mona Lisa in a lot of ways for Neil Jordan fans. it's far and away better than Ocean's 11, Confidence, and all the other more recent "stylish" caper flicks....Good Thief is subdued, but very cool, has a GREAT soundtrack, and a wonderful cast....