Thief is probably best known as Michael Mann's first directorial effort and befitting thee first film of a man who would go on to make great films (Heat, The Insider, Collateral) it's a promising movie that doesn't reach masterpiece status. Frank (James Caan) is an ex-con master thief who gets roped into working for the mafia after his fence is killed and as you can imagine, things don't go so well for him after that. The film shares a lot of similarities with Heat (ex-con who refuses to go back to jail no matter what the cost, intricate depictions of robberies and criminal life) and is largely reliant on Caan's performance. Thankfully he is up to the task. While he's always been an actor that got by more on his physical presence than any outward displays of emotional acting, Caan brings a lot more to the character than just a tough guy with a rulebook. There's an early scene in a diner that Caan considers the best acting of his career and I'd have to agree. He's much more than a brute in that scene and it helps to carry his character emotionally through the more action oriented encounters. Mann;s visual style was not yet fully formed at this point but he still does a lot with camera movement, lighting and framing to make Thief visually interesting and unique. The Tangerine Dream score hasn't aged all that well and fully places this film in the 80's and the supporting cast is hit (Robert Prosky, Willie Nelson) and miss (Jim Belushi, Tuesday Weld) making the film well worth viewing but a flawed picture nonetheless.
Rating: 3.5
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