The Good Thief is a 2002 crime thriller film written and directed by Neil Jordan. It is a remake of the French film Bob le flambeur (1955) by Jean-Pierre Melville. The film, shot in both Monaco and Nice, France, follows a heroin-addicted retired thief through the setup and completion of one last job.
| The Good Thief | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Original movie poster | |
| Directed by | Neil Jordan |
| Written by | Neil Jordan |
| Based on | Bob le flambeur by Jean-Pierre Melville Auguste Le Breton |
| Produced by | Seaton McLean John Wells Stephen Woolley Neil Jordan |
| Starring | Nick Nolte Emir Kusturica Nutsa Kukhianidze |
| Cinematography | Chris Menges |
| Edited by | Tony Lawson |
| Music by | Elliot Goldenthal |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Momentum Pictures (United Kingdom and Ireland)[1] TFM Distribution (France)[2] |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 108 minutes |
| Countries | United Kingdom France Ireland |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $30 million[3] |
| Box office | $5,756,945[3] |
Cast
edit- Nick Nolte as Bob Montagnet
- Emir Kusturica as Vladimir
- Nutsa Kukhianidze as Anne
- Tchéky Karyo as Roger
- Saïd Taghmaoui as Paulo
- Patricia Kell as Yvonne
- Gérard Darmon as Raoul
- Julien Maurel as Philippe
- Sarah Bridges as Philipa
- Ralph Fiennes as Tony Angel (uncredited)
Reception
editThe film received mostly positive reviews. Critic Roger Ebert notes of Nolte: "it is clear, that he was born to play Bob. It is one of those performances that flows unhindered from an actor's deepest instincts."[4]
Reviewer Pam Grady, writing for Reel.com, also praised the film: "The Good Thief has many virtues, beginning with the sheer wit of Jordan's screenplay and Chris Menges's neon-saturated cinematography that renders Nice both beautiful and sinister, trapping the characters in the glare of its lights. The heist itself is a complicated affair — Jordan took Melville's original idea and added a distinctly 21st-century twist — and all the more satisfying for it."[5]
The film holds a 77% 'fresh' rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 146 reviews, and an average rating of 6.9/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Bolstered by Nolte's strong performance, The Good Thief brims with seductive style."[6] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 68 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[7]
Soundtrack
editThe film's score was composed by Elliot Goldenthal.
References
edit- ^ "The Good Thief (2002)". BBFC. Archived from the original on 24 August 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
- ^ "The Good Thief (2003)". UniFrance. Archived from the original on 24 August 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
- ^ a b The Good Thief at Box Office Mojo
- ^ "The Good Thief". RogerEbert.com. Ebert Digital LLC. 11 April 2003. Archived from the original on 3 June 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2010.
- ^ "The Good Thief (2002)". Reel.com. 9 May 2005. Archived from the original on 9 May 2005. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
- ^ "The Good Thief". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. 16 April 2003. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
- ^ The Good Thief at Metacritic