The Score (film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Score
Directed by Frank Oz
Produced by Gary Foster
Written by Daniel E. Taylor,
Kario Salem
Starring Robert De Niro
Edward Norton
Marlon Brando
Angela Bassett
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date(s) 13 July 2001 (USA)
Running time 124 min
Language English
Budget ~ US$68,000,000
IMDb profile

The Score is a 2001 crime drama. It is notable for its cast, which includes Robert De Niro as Nick Wells, a Canadian professional art thief from Montreal, who wants out of the criminal life for good because of his age and his girlfriend (Angela Bassett), Edward Norton as Jack Teller, the ambitious new kid who teams up with Wells for this "inside job", and Marlon Brando as Max, Wells' financial partner and good friend, who plans the caper and connects Wells with Teller. For Actor's Studio graduates Brando and De Niro, the only two people ever to win an Academy Award for the same starring role, as Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather and The Godfather Part II respectively, this was the first and only time they actually appeared in a film together.

This 124-minute redux of the antihero seeking redemption and freedom after his inevitable "last big job" tale was directed by Frank Oz. Oz is perhaps best known for his work as a puppeteer with Jim Henson's Muppets. Some have claimed that during the production, Brando, who was infamously difficult to work with, by most accounts, repeatedly argued with Oz and called him "Miss Piggy". [1]

It was based upon a story by first-timers Daniel E. Taylor and Emmy-winner Kario Salem.

Contents

[edit] Plot

In the film, a retiring thief, Wells, is persuaded to engage in one last heist with help from rookie thief Teller. The two men intend to steal a priceless French scepter, once thought lost but rediscovered as it was brought into Canada illegally. However the job requires getting the artifact out of the heavily-guarded Montreal Customs House, where Teller has taken a maintenance job. In order to avoid suspicion, Teller has played the part of Brian, a man with learning disabilities.

[edit] Critics

The film received a mix of positive and critical reviews, not necessarily because it was particularly bad, but simply because some critics expected much more from a film with a core cast boasting four Oscars and twelve nominations between the three of them. Peter Travers, a film critic for Rolling Stone, pointed out that when "two Don Corleones team up", he expected "the kind of movie that makes people say, 'I'd pay to see these guys just read from the phone book.'" [2] Instead, what he had to say about it was: "There's nothing you can't see coming in this flick, including the surprise ending. Quick, somebody get a phone book." However, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it three and one half stars out of four, calling it "the best pure heist movie in recent years." [3]

[edit] Facts and Trivia

  • After a July 13, 2001 opening, the sixty-eight million dollar film earned a gross domestic box office take of $71,069,884.[4]
  • Angela Bassett won a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for her portrayal of Wells' girlfriend, Diane. Some critics felt, though, that her part was underused in the film.
  • This is one of the few movies featuring the rare BMW 8 Series, which was driven in the movie by Robert De Niro.
  • Edward Norton later admitted he wasn't very fond of the script and only did the film to work with De Niro and Brando.
  • Water was used to amplify an explosion and crack a safe. The science of this was put to the test in the television series Hollywood Science and later Mythbusters. On the Mythbusters episode "Crimes and Myth-Demeanors 2", the experiment showed over a dozen thermal rods were needed to drill a hole, and the heat completely destroyed the items inside. Also, the safe leaked and had to be sealed from the inside in order to completely fill it with water. Finally, the explosion successfully dislodged the safe door, but none of the items inside remained intact.

[edit] External links

In other languages