Thick as Thieves (I) (2009)

A veteran thief recruits a younger crook to help him pull off one final job in order to repay his debt to the Russian mob.

Director:

Mimi Leder

Writer:

Ted Humphrey

Stars:

Morgan Freeman, Antonio Banderas, Radha Mitchell

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Morgan Freeman	...	Keith Ripley
Antonio Banderas	...	Gabriel Martin
Radha Mitchell	...	Alex
Rade Serbedzija	...	Nicky / Victor
Ivan Petrushinov	...	Émigré #1
Gerrit Vooren	...	Bakker
Joshua Rubin	...	Joost
Victor Boichev	...	Émigré #2 (as Victor Boytchev)
Atanas Srebrev	...	Transit Cop #2
Tom Hardy	...	Michaels
Robert Forster	...	Lt. Weber
Corey Johnson	...	Voutiritsas
Marianne Stanicheva	...	Madame Irina
Vladimir Kolev	...	Andrei
Nickolay Hadjiminev	...	Émigré #3

Storyline

In New York, the experienced art thief, Keith Ripley, invites the bold thief from Miami, Gabriel Martin, to team up with him. He plans the heist of two valuable mysterious antique Faberge eggs, located in a safe, of the well protected Russian jewelry Romanov. Each egg is worth twenty million dollars on the black market, and Ripley needs his cut to free himself from his debt to a powerful mobster, known as Nicky. The reluctant Gabriel agrees to participate, after having a one night stand with Ripley's goddaughter Alexandra Karolin. Meanwhile, the persistent Lieutenant Weber, who has unsuccessfully tried to put Ripley in jail for twenty years, figures out how to anticipate the movements of the criminal in order to catch him.

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Plot Keywords:

thief | heist | bare midriff | boardwalk | laser | 

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Taglines:

Never trust a thief.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexuality, language and some nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English Russian Dutch

Release Date:

9 January 2009 (Taiwan)

Also Known As:

The Code

Filming Locations:

Brighton 4th Street, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Millennium Films, Revelations Entertainment, Equity Pictures Medienfonds GmbH & Co. KG IV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

During the Vault scene the shots switch between Freeman and Banderas: in one shot Freeman's earpiece is in his ear, then it is not, then in the shot following that it's back in again.

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Quotes

Keith Ripley: Some people were born to compose music. Others to split the atom. I was born to steal shit.

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Connections

References Topkapi (1964)

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Soundtracks

"Do Rechki"
Traditional

User Reviews

"The Code"

What no comments, no rating, no release date?!! This is what I first thought when looking at the IMDb page for this movie, "how can it be possible, a movie released here in Taiwan but not in America?!"

First off I had trouble finding this movie on IMDb since the English title given in Taiwan is The Code", where as according to IMDb its "Thick as Thieves"

I didn't know what to expect when entering this movie as I hadn't read a million posts on IMDb saying how its amazing and the others saying it should be the 2nd thing on your list to do after suicide.

It's pretty much your average bank heist movie, the story is based around a job which is utterly impossible unless you have amazing tools and gadgets which probably take longer to create than the whole security system of the bank they're planning to hit. The story moves along nicely, it has a few short moments where it seems to drift away from the main plot but it doesn't distract you from the main track. The acting by Freeman is his usual really, the more experienced and wiser man who once again does a decent job. The young rookie crook role goes to Banderas who generally does a good job but in the early stages of the movie just doesn't look right. The young rookie is the same as most the young cocky rookie's you see in most movies, unfortunately a middle aged man making wise cracks just doesn't look right on screen.

Like you'd expect there's a surprise ending which isn't so easy to figure out, or when you think you've figured it out you still end up being wrong. It's what you'd expect from a heist movie and it certainly doesn't disappoint. The directing is nothing special, it just seems like standard Hollywood movie making with nothing really standing out as being special. The dialogue is nothing flash, its normal dialogue with very little standout lines. The performances are once again nothing stand out, all the actors do a decent job in this movie but nothing worthy of an Oscar.

Overall this isn't a super awesome big time blockbuster, its an OK piece of cinema which is sure to entertain you but its not going to have you shouting from the roof tops