The Italian Job (2003)

After being betrayed and left for dead in Italy, Charlie Croker and his team plan an elaborate gold heist against their former ally.

Director:

F. Gary Gray

Writers:

Troy Kennedy-Martin, Donna Powers (screenplay),

Stars:

Donald Sutherland, Mark Wahlberg, Edward Norton

7 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mark Wahlberg	...	Charlie Croker
Charlize Theron	...	Stella Bridger
Donald Sutherland	...	John Bridger
Jason Statham	...	Handsome Rob
Seth Green	...	Lyle
Mos Def	...	Left Ear
Edward Norton	...	Steve
Fausto Callegarini	...	Italian Guard
Stefano Petronelli	...	Garbageman / Thug
Fabio Scarpa	...	Garbageman / Thug
Cristiano Bonora	...	Garbageman / Thug
Tiberio Greco	...	Garbageman / Thug
Jimmy Shubert	...	First Detective
Tammi Cubilette	...	Second Detective
Mary Portser	...	Stella's Receptionist

Storyline

Led by John Bridger (Donald Sutherland) and Charlie Croker (Mark Wahlberg) a team is assembled for one last heist to steal $35 million in gold bars from a heavily guarded safe in Venice, Italy. After successfully pulling off the heist, a team member, Steve (Edward Norton), driven by greed and jealousy, arranges to take the gold for himself and eliminate the remaining members of the group. Thinking the team dead, he returns to L.A. with the gold. Charlie and the survivors of this betrayal follow Steve L.A. to exact revenge against the traitor. Charlie enlists the help of John Bridger's daughter, Stella (Charlize Theron) - a professional safe cracker, to get revenge. With Stella and the hacking skills of Lyle (Seth Green), the explosives skills of "Left Ear" (Mos Def), and the driving skills of "Handsome" Rob (Jason Statham) this new team plans and executes a daring heist that weaves through the freeways and subways of L.A.

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Plot Keywords:

gold | heist | venice italy | revenge | traffic jam | 

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Taglines:

Steal The Day 5.30.03

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Certificate:

14A

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA France UK

Language:

English Russian Italian

Release Date:

30 May 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Un boulot à l'italienne

Filming Locations:

Long Beach, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$153,075 (Austria) (14 November 2003)

Gross:

$1,498,261 (South Africa) (5 December 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, De Line Pictures, Working Title Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Screen writers Donna Powers and Wayne Powers say in an interview featured in the DVD that they hadn't watched the 1969 original movie before agreeing to write the script. After that, they only watched it once. This was on purpose because they didn't want to copy the movie, they wanted to make their own movie inspired by the original one.

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Goofs

Bullets do not travel at full speed through water. In reality, all bullets slow rapidly as soon as they hit the water, contrary to what is seen when Steve shoots into the lake. Not only do bullets slow down quickly when fired into water, high powered bullets from weapons like the assault rife Steve is using actually shred within inches of the surface of the water and then simply settle to the bottom of (in this case) the lake. Oddly enough, high-powered bullets have less penetration through water than lower-powered ones (a bullet's power is determined by the cartridge charge).

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Quotes

[first lines]
Stella: [on the phone] Hello.
John Bridger: [on the phone] Hello, sweetie.
Stella: [on the phone] Daddy, it's early.

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Crazy Credits

At the very end of the credits, the sound of coins falling and tinkling can be heard.

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Connections

Featured in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: The Best of Science Fiction Movies (2010)

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Soundtracks

California Soul
by Nick Ashford (as Nicholas Ashford) and Valerie Simpson
Performed by Marlena Shaw
Courtesy of MCA Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Great film despite a few fallbacks

Over the last few months, I have seen a lot of reviews for The Italian Job, many of them negative. The gist of almost all of these pessimistic criticisms is that, for all its modernistic bravado and high-budget technology, the film doesn't have much substance where it counts. Look, people, it's just a fun movie. This is the type of picture where you're supposed to sit back, relax, and just enjoy the steady-moving pace of the film. Like Ocean's Eleven (2001), you can concentrate on the characters and the plot at the same time without having to do much thinking (lucky for some of us). Granted, "Ocean" is a better movie, but who cares? The plot may have some holes (there's a huge one about 3/4 of the way through), the action may not be as gratifyingly gratuitous as the trailers made it out to be, and some of the dialogue may seem pointless and cheesy, but again, who really cares? Cool characters, Mini Coopers, big explosions, Charlize Theron. What more do you want? I think it's time to drop the fake Roger Ebert meets Gene Shalit act and enjoy yourself for once! Oh, and another thing, whatever you do, don't compare it to the original because, to reiterate what F. Gary Gray has told the press a million times, THIS IS NOT A REMAKE!! My advice- if you're interested in nit-picking your way through a good-humored, fun flick, don't even bother seeing The Italian Job. But, if you don't have a severe inferiority complex and/or want to see Ed Norton get jacked by a bunch of Ukranians, go ahead. The Bottom Line, my fellow moviegoers, is: Lighten Up and Have Fun, Dammit.