The Italian Job [DVD] [2003]

Lacking the style and heart that made the original such a firm favorite among film fans and also without the talents of Noel Coward - who gave such a nicely humorous touch to the classic - was this weak 2003 remake.
In truth this movie is more of a sequel than a remake. As most film fans will know the original movie concluded with the gang of bullion thieves stuck in a rather precarious situation atop one of the Italian Alps. The remake however includes the actual "Italian Job" of the title at the beginning of its movie and then weaves a tale of betrayal and payback that has one of the thieves double-crossing his partners and taking off with the gold himself.
In this respect the movie probably would have been better off not adopting the name of its illustrious predecessor. In fact, in talks with the director to promote this movie, it was revealed that Italian authorities were less than happy to hear that Hollywood planned to remake a movie - that is such a "national treasure" in the hearts of Italy - that they almost refused the team to film in Venice. Only when they were able to convince the Italians that it was a homage and that they intended no disrespect to the original that they were allowed to continue.
Fans of another remake (Ocean's Eleven) will no doubt lap this movie up. This production has another hip cast and the same slick method of storytelling. It was pleasing to see the return of the Morris Minor car as one of the holdovers from the original movie and I thought Charlize Theron was a welcome addition to the cast as the beautiful daughter of one of the original thieves. What was most disturbing though was the fact that the original Italian Job was an eclectic collection of British thieves, whereas here they are American - not sure why they made that change since the humor employed in the original was so British.
Still, as heist movies go this film is a success and a lot of fun. If you enjoyed Clooneys version of OCEAN'S ELEVEN, then chances are you will enjoy this too.

This film is supposedly a remake of the Michael Caine film of the same name. It is not, it uses the title of the original, some of the big set pieces, the gold heist, the armoured car, the getaway and let us not forget the Mini Coopers.

It does not however have the charm of the original, Mark Wahlberg does not have the same cheeky chappy persona that Michael Caine gave his Charlie Croker, but he gives a good performance nonetheless, as do all the other actors. Donald Sutherland steals every scene he is in, which is not many unfortunately.

This is an entertaining, glossy, well scripted, well acted romp. I do not think that it is really a remake though, the entire ethos of this film is different from the original. The original was a celebration of all things English (English not British, there is a difference)Noel Coward after all was the quintessential Englishman.

Even the ending is different, in the original the thieves lost the gold and were left hanging over a precipice, and all the gold was scattered down a mountain, never did crime pay less. In this new and revised version they do, eventually, get away with it, should crime pay just because we like the criminals?

That all said, this is worth watching, there is very little violence and no bad language, which makes a refreshing change, watch and enjoy, just do not expect a modern updating of the original, you will not find it here.

The Italian Job is an entertaining action movie with great actors like Donald Sutherland and Mark Wahlberg. If you want to have a nice movie night, you have to see this movie. Everyone can watch this movie and it is finished before you notice!