Thick as Thieves (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.

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Plot Keywords:

thief | faberge egg | heist | title directed by female | whispering | 

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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:

Sofia, Bulgaria

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, 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".

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Goofs

When at the party they use the iPhone to see the transmitted video feed from the camera in the buttonhole. In the close up you can clearly see the home button on the left but in the very next scene the phone has turned around.

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Quotes

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

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Connections

References Rififi (1955)

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Soundtracks

Nas Ne Dagoniat (Not Gonna Get Us)
Written by Ivan Nikolaevich Shapovalov, Valerij Polienko, Elena Vladimirovna Kiper, Sergej Galoyan
Performed by t.A.T.u.
Published by EMI Blackwood Music Inc. (BMI), Unforgettable Songs Ltd / SPZ Music Inc. (BMI),
Universal Music - MGB Songs (ASCAP)
Courtesy of Interscope Records under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Oh Dear!

Oh Dear, in deed. What could have been one of the best heist movies in recent history turned out to be (in my humble opinion) a serious let down.

Morgan Freeman and Antonio Banderas, a potential chemistry that on paper seemed a sure fire hit, but and there's always a but. It just didn't materialize, whether it was the short-comings of the dialog or the direction I can't say; but it just didn't sizzle.

When you think of heist movie partnerships then you have to be very special to match up against De Niro and Norton has seen in 'The Score'.

Freeman and Banderas - don't....sorry. For me this was the most overwhelming shortfall of the film, the two main protagonists just don't bounce off each other and has a consequence the characters fail to draw you in.

As for the plot, Freeman - going for the last big score before retirement, Banderas - hoping to improve his standing in the criminal fraternity whilst making a lot of money in the process.

Formulaic with a twist-at-the-end that was disappointingly obvious because the writers thought it had to have a twist-at-the-end. When will they ever learn that you can tell a story without having the ubiquitous twist - the bigger surprise would have been - oh wait for it - no surprise.

Unfortunately, this movie will go down has another example of Hollywood doing what Hollywood does, very little thought and effort put into an idea that could have been so much greater than the sum of its parts.

I gave this movie a 5 for the attempt of entertaining us, it should be a lot higher if only it had lived up to it's potential.