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:

Rade Serbedzija, Morgan Freeman, Robert Forster

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rade Serbedzija	...	Nicky / Victor (as Rade Sherbedgia)
Morgan Freeman	...	Ripley
Robert Forster	...	Lt. Weber
Corey Johnson	...	Voutiritsas
Antonio Banderas	...	Gabriel
Gerrit Vooren	...	Bakker
Charles Venn	...	Transit Cop #1 (as Chucky Venn)
Atanas Srebrev	...	Transit Cop #2
Darrell Las Quevas	...	Transit Cop #3
Tom Hardy	...	Michaels
Ivan Petrushinov	...	Émigré #1
Victor Boichev	...	Émigré #2 (as Victor Boytchev)
Nickolay Hadjiminev	...	Émigré #3
Marianne Stanicheva	...	Madame Irina (as Mariana Stanisheva)
Stefan Shterev	...	Giorgi

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.

---

Plot Keywords:

thief | heist | title directed by female | whispering | laser | 

---

Taglines:

Never trust a thief.

---

Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

---

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:

Le 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?

Trivia

During the scene when Antonio Banderas is talking to Radha Mitchell at the Russian night club at around 26 minutes the mark, there is a techno remix of the traditional Russian folk song, "Korobeiniki". "Korobeiniki" is also the theme song for the Nintendo classic puzzle video game, "Tetris"

---

Goofs

(at around 40 mins) When Martin (Antonio Banderas) and Ripley (Morgan Freeman) are in the subway together and Martin takes out the iPhone to mark the spot on the wall, you can see by pausing the movie that he just clicks on the Photo application and then the lock room's plant suddenly pops up out.

---

Quotes

[First Line]
[In Flemish with subtitles]
Joost: The Russians think they own the world now.

---

Connections

References Topkapi (1964)

---

Soundtracks

Electric Blue
Written by Michael Yurchenko (aka Mike Mutantoff) (ASCAP)
Performed by Mike Mutantoff, Emergency Break, Maria Malyk
Published by Killective Records Publishing (ASCAP)
Courtesy of NOMA Music

User Reviews

I pity Morgan Freeman

The combination of bad acting, lousy directing, faded characters, clichéd script and mediocre sets not only disappointed me, but actually made me mad enough to post this comment. I feel really sorry for Morgan Freeman and Marcel Iures for having had to put up with all the preposterous nonsense called "Thick as thieves". As for Banderas and Mitchell, they seem to be pretty much in the same boat, as both lack basic acting skills and have aged disgracefully. To sum up, the movie is ridiculously bad but, if you appreciate Freeman's previous work, buy a ticket, tear it to bits, go home and watch the evening news: I'm sure it'll be less depressing.