Thief (1981)

Becoming closer to his dream of leading a normal life, a professional safecracker agrees to do a job for the mafia, who have other plans for him.

Director:

Michael Mann

Writers:

Frank Hohimer (novel), Michael Mann (screen story),

Stars:

James Caan, Tuesday Weld, Willie Nelson

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Caan	...	Frank
Tuesday Weld	...	Jessie
Willie Nelson	...	Okla
James Belushi	...	Barry
Robert Prosky	...	Leo
Tom Signorelli	...	Attaglia
Dennis Farina	...	Carl
Nick Nickeas	...	Nick
W.R. Brown	...	Mitch (as W.R. [Bill] Brown)
Norm Tobin	...	Guido
John Santucci	...	Urizzi
Gavin MacFadyen	...	Boreksco
Chuck Adamson	...	Ancell
Sam Cirone	...	Martello
Spero Anast	...	Bukowski

Storyline

Frank is an expert professional safecracker, specializing in high-profile diamond jobs. After having spent many years in prison, he has a very concrete picture of what he wants out of life--including a nice home, a wife, and kids. As soon as he is able to assemble the pieces of this collage, by means of his chosen profession, he intends to retire and become a model citizen. In an effort to accelerate this process, he signs on to take down a huge score for a big-time gangster. Unfortunately, Frank's obsession for his version of the American Dream allows him to overlook his natural wariness and mistrust, when making the deal for his final job. He is thus ensnared and robbed of his freedom, his independence, and, ultimately, his dream.

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Plot Keywords:

prison | heist | safecracker | criminal | fence | 

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Taglines:

Tonight, his take home pay is $410,000...tax free.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 March 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der Einzelgänger

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$4,300,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mann/Caan Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Michael Mann:  [Cops & Robbers]  Many real-life Chicago criminals and police officers served as advisors to director Michael Mann, and Mann cast many of them on screen, often in contradictory roles (i.e. former Chicago police officers Dennis Farina and Nick Nickeas appear as criminal henchmen, while former professional thief John Santucci appears as a police officer).

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Goofs

When Frank goes into the bar to blow it up, you can clearly see that he has left his keys in the lock. That makes sense if he is going to lock the door on the way out in order to speed up his exit. However when he walks out he just lets the door close behind him and doesn't retrieve his keys.

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Quotes

Frank: You're marking time is what you are. You're backing off. You're hiding out. You're waiting for a bus that you hope never comes because you dont wanna get on it anyway because you don't wanna go anywhere. Ok?

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Connections

Referenced in Ebert Presents: At the Movies: Episode #2.12 (2011)

User Reviews

Michael Mann's Masterpiece

Thief(1981) contains the best performance of James Caan as a professional thief in a rare leading role. He is complex and three deminsional as the protagonist, Frank. Thief(1981) is similar in many ideas to the Dustin Hoffman film, Straight Time(1977). One of the best directorial debut as Michael Mann gives a realistic portrayal of the hardships in being a professional thief. The movie does a good job in showing the corruption that Frank has to go against.

Its much better than Heat(1995) because it focuses on one person instead of trying to interweave in confusing detail the lives of two people who are opposite in job but the same in spirit. Willie Nelson is terrific in the small of of Frank's mentor, Okla. Robert Prosky is impressive as the father like crime boss, Leo. The heist scenes are the highlight of the film. Thief(1981) has to be one of the best movies to come out during the 1980s and is definitely the director's top film.