The Score

A robber, Nick (Robert De Niro) wants to retire and marry his girlfriend (Angela Bassett). But a friend of his Max (Marlon Brando) convinces him to do one last job with young brash Jackie (Edward Norton). Naturally something goes wrong. Nothing new or inventive here but very well-done and engrossing. Also it's a pleasure to see three exceptional actors doing good work and enjoying themselves (especially Brando). Only complaint--Bassett (another great actor) is completely wasted. Worth catching. Also, it needs to be seen on a wide screen--director Frank Oz uses the whole screen inventively more than once.

The Score seems to start off slow for some, but the film's speed is important for the movie. It shows how DeNiro's character lives his life and his life is essential to the plot. "One more" is what he has been saying for years, but this time he means it and will do whatever it takes to make sure nothing goes wrong. Edward Norton's character gives Bob the most grief because he isn't sure if Norton will fly straight. Norton's performance is doubly magnificent and anyone who hasn't seen this actor in action is missing out big time. Brando delivers about 5 scenes that are right on key and provides some comic relief that fits nicely. Overall a really good film that will leave audiences with their jaws on the floor.

Yes, it's a cliché script, but it's a good one. De Niro, Norton and Brando in a classic heist movie from 20 years ago. What do you want more? It's 2 hours of oldschool moviewatching. Not too deep, no psychology, just a plan to rob an artefact and everything that can go wrong with that. De Niro and Norton team up with Brando on the background doing his cottonball in mouth dialogues. The movie delivers what it promises.

Yep, it's another clichéd script: Career cat burglar Nick (Robert De Niro, Meet the Parents) is about to take on a nearly impossible heist that requires his joining forces with a talented but brash young accomplice, Jackie (Edward Norton, American History X), whom he doesn't particularly like. The dubious alliance, arranged by Nick's longtime friend and fence, Max (Marlon Brando, Don Juan deMarco), throws a wrench into Nick's plan to retire from crime and settle down with his lady love, Diane (Angela Bassett, Supernova).

Uh-huh. The old, "One more job, then I'll retire," routine. But that's where the routine ends. The trio of brilliant lead actors transcend the plot, and overcome the sometimes sluggish direction (courtesy of Frank Oz, who did Bowfinger and many other comedies -- and children's flicks, such as The Indian in the Cupboard). It's an absolute pleasure from start to finish, just to watch and study these men -- but then, they could probably be taking turns reading the phone book and make it seem fascinating. (Angela Bassett is excellent too, but she is unfortunately relegated to the one-dimensional, obligatory "girlfriend role" here.)

The score is a big one: a 16th century royal scepter worth $30 million dollars. It's locked away in the basement of The Customs House in Montreal, Canada, and security is getting tighter by the day. Jackie infiltrates the House, posing as "Brian," a janitor afflicted with cerebral palsy. Norton is flawless in his dual roles (remember his schizo debut in Primal Fear?), and better still, he plays Brian as funny and endearing without ever creeping into caricature-ville. Meanwhile, Nick is figuring out how to bypass the ironclad security system and crack the uncrackable safe. DeNiro doesn't have a lot to do with his character, but what he was given, he runs with. He not only makes you believe the clichés, you like them, dammit. Brando is clearly having fun with his role -- one tailor-made just for him. "I wrote the part specifically for Brando," said co-writer Kario Salem. "I imagined him as a cross between Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams -- someone of great flamboyance and humor and wit and someone of great size, both literally and figuratively." Brando nails it all the way. (Interesting aside: the roles of Nick and Jackie were originally slated for Michael Douglas and Ben Affleck.)

The twist ending is given away a bit too early (but then there's another twist), and there isn't anything here we haven't seen before. However, with three generations of the world's best actors on the screen, The Score scores big.

Nick Wells is a patient, professional, old school thief who works alone. A narrow escape convinces him that it is time to pack it up and settle down with his casual girlfriend Diane. However his middleman Max comes to him with a big score worth millions each and begins to try and convince him to do it. Acting as a downside to the job is Jack Teller, the guy with the insider information who Nick must work with as partners on the job. Even as trust is built between the three men, little things begin to be revealed that could put the whole job at risk.

Very few films are excellent in every regard, some have great plots but low production values where others have multimillion budgets but awful stories. The Score is rightly sold on it's cast for it as little else to offer an audience other than that. The plot is overly familiar and, while not bad, certainly doesn't hold any great surprises for anyone who's seen any `one last job' movies before. The telling is a little slow but holds the attention pretty well, while the job itself is unspectacular but enjoyable.

What makes it worth watching over many other similar twisty heist movies is the cast, who manage to make the material seem better by their inclusion. None of them really have anything special to work with but they all do well and do professional jobs. Norton is probably the standout of the film as he plays several types of character and is good in them all. De Niro does a reasonable job without being flashy or looking like he's making too much of an effort. Brando is OK but now always seems to have a half smile on his face to suggest he isn't taking anything seriously. I don't understand why Bassett bothered to be involved as her part is very small and doesn't add very much to the film – maybe it was a bigger part in the script?

Overall this film is basically nothing new and can be seen in many different forms at video stores world-wide. The thing that helps lift this a little above the rest is not the plot but the talented cast that have been assembled to run it. I enjoyed it and think it is worth watching for that.