Thief

It’s not often that I have such radically different takes on a movie as I’ve had on this one. When it was new I thought it was smart, exciting, and visually innovative. I had a good overall impression. And I recall that the whole thing was driven along by a score performed by Tangerine Dream. Now, in 2018, I just could hardly stand the music. In the opening sequence it totally dominates everything, a one-note drone that quickly wore out its welcome. I think it was a case of this sort of music being pretty new to film scores. These days we’ve heard a million of them, and much, much better. And Tangerine Dream itself was capable of doing much better, in films like Sorcerer a few years before this, and Miracle Mile and Risky Business later. Once it got past the opening scene it got easier to take, but I almost didn’t make it past the first ten minutes.

I still like the story, though I really disliked the James Caan character. He’s a guy who expects everybody to step out of his way, who when he sets his mind on something will literally not take no for an answer. This includes Tuesday Weld, who is steamrollered by him, and abandoned by him when his dreams fall apart. The chief delight here is the big heist that it all leads up to, a brute force attack on an “uncrackable” safe. It’s true, you don’t pick the lock on this sucker, but if you have time and the right equipment, anything’s possible …