The Italian Job: Review By Georgia DiPirro

"You ready to create the biggest traffic jam in the history of Los Angeles?"

THE ITALIAN JOB, an American remake of a 1969 British film of the same name. It's a 2003 heist film remake version that has been reconstructed from the ground up. It is stripped down from the original scrip. This story is light, fun and homage to the original that isn't a duplicate; two films you can love for different reasons. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on May 11, 2003. Directed by F. Gary Gray; "an homage to the original."

THE ITALIAN JOB stars Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Edward Norton, Seth Green, Jason Statham, Mos Def, and Donald Sutherland. A team of thieves plan to steal gold bullion from a former associate who double crossed them. "We do it like The Italian Job."

Most of the film was shot on location in Venice and Los Angeles, where canals and streets, respectively, were temporarily shut down during principal photography. The movie is produced by Paramount Pictures. 2003 THE ITALIAN JOB is a high action, witty, suspenseful, intelligent, and even at times zany movie.

This remake has an enhanced strategy in regards to plot and vengeance. It's easy to follow, with an excellent execution, and an awesome sound track. The ending made sense because it completes the entirety of the story with amusing moments. Bridger's tragic death was sad, but I loved how the rest of Crocker's gang seeks out revenge against their previous friend Steve.

The product placement fees from Mini-Cooper must have been exciting. I wasn't impressed with these BMW mini-boxes until I saw this movie. Amazing, fast, and dangerous ~ just as this movie. The script was well written and the casting/acting quite sensational. The use of BMW's Minis in the film was mentioned by critics and business analysts alike as a prime example of modern product placement, or more specifically "brand integration". Film critic Joe Morgenstern called THE ITALIAN JOB "the best car commercial ever". BusinessWeek reported in April 2004 that sales of the Mini in 2003-the year in which THE ITALIAN JOB was theatrically released-had increased 22 percent over the previous year. The most savage car chases. People always talk about this film long after they have seen it.

SPOILER WARNING

In Venice, John Bridger (Donald Sutherland) a retired safecracker calls his daughter Stella Bridger (Charlize Theron) and tells her that he will participate in his final heist. John meets with Charlie Croker (Mark Wahlberg) Establish the plan. Their team of six involves: Steve (Norton) is the "inside man", Handsome Rob (Statham) is a getaway driver, Left Ear (Def) is an explosives expert, and Lyle (Green) is a technical expert. The heist is a triumph. But suddenly Steve betrays them! He takes the gold, kills John Bridger and leaves the rest for dead.

A year later in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Stella (Charlize Theron) is using her safe cracking expertise to break into vaults as an assistant to law enforcement personnel. The team tracked down Steve, and Charlie recruits Stella to participate.

Los Angeles, California they start their surveillance of Steve's house and plan the heist. In the meantime, Steve attempts to sell his gold. The team's initial plan is to have Steve stood up on a date with Stella-who posed as a cable repair woman to get into Steve's house and locate his safe-while the team would break into Steve's house, load the gold into three Mini Coopers that are modified. Like the 1969 movie they hacked traffic lights to make their escape. "They do it The Italian Job way."

Now aware that Charlie and his team are alive, Steve makes arrangements to move the gold. He obtains three armored trucks and a helicopter from which to monitor the trucks' transit. To counter the shell game, Charlie uses Lyle's control over the Los Angeles traffic system to isolate the one truck containing the gold, which Lyle manages to find, and gridlocks LA. Lyle, "Welcome to L.A.'s Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control Operations Center... kick ass algorithm to sneak in, and now we own the place."

Charlie's team steals the gold from the truck and escape in their trio of Mini Coopers. The chase is on! Racing throughout Los Angeles they are pursued by Steve and his security guards. They lose them all, except Steve! He follows Charlie, but falls into a trap: Charlie has already informed the Ukrainian that Steve is the person they want, and Charlie gives the Ukrainian a portion of the stolen gold. Steve is taken away by the gangsters, and the team split up the remaining gold and raises a toast to Stella's father as they leave Los Angeles on the Coast Starlight. During the credits, a series of scenes show what each member of the team does with their portion of the money.

The director Gary Gray brought in a stellar, talented cast. These actors transform into a whole new soul. Gray had been interested in working with Wahlberg since seeing his performance in BOOGIE NIGHTS. After reading the script for THE ITALIAN JOB, Gray contacted Mark Wahlberg, who "fell in love with it" after reading it himself. Charlize Theron was Gray's first choice for the character of Stella Bridger, and Wahlberg also recommended her for the role. She spent time with a safecracker in preparing for the role. Gray's casting director Sheila Jaffe suggested Statham for the role of getaway driver Handsome Rob, and Gray agreed with her choice. Edward Norton is an awesome bad guy. He took the role of Steve Frazelli, due to a contractual obligation he had to fulfill. Wahlberg, Theron, and Statham attended special driver's training sessions at Willow Springs International Motorsports Park for nearly a month during pre-production. Mark Wahlberg and Charlize Theron put a sexy spin to this movie.

Gray wanted a widescreen aspect ratio, so they chose to shoot the film in Super 35, which has a 2.4:1 aspect ratio. Once principal photography began, Gray frequently utilized dollies, as well as Steadicams and a Technocrane, to keep the cameras almost constantly moving.

Most of THE ITALIAN JOB was shot on location, at sites Pfister scouted over 12 weeks during pre-production, but some scenes were filmed on sets. Pfister set up seven cameras to capture the vehicle's ~30 foot (9.1 m) descent. Three hundred cars were used to simulate the traffic jam at the intersection of Hollywood and Highland.

Three of the 32 custom-built Mini Coopers used during principal photography were fitted with electric motors since combustion engines were not allowed in the subway tunnels, where some scenes were shot. The director remarked that "[the Mini Coopers are] part of the cast." Gray wanted the film to be as realistic as possible; accordingly, the actors did most of their own stunts, and computer-generated imagery was used very sparingly. The second unit, under Alexander Witt and Josh Bleibtreu, filmed establishing shots, the Venice canal chase sequence, and the Los Angeles chase sequence over a period of 40 days.

This amusing remake of the 1969 Michael Caine film quickly goes from payday to payback. It's clever, suspenseful, quirky, thrilling. High drive music keeps the plot moving along.

"It's over when I say it's over."

My advice: "Get in. Get out. Get Even"

Enjoy the read

By Georgia DiPirro