The Hot Rock (film)

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The Hot Rock

Directed by	Peter Yates
Produced by	Hal Landers Bobby Roberts
Written by	William Goldman
Starring	Robert Redford George Segal Ron Leibman Moses Gunn
Music by	Quincy Jones
Cinematography	Edward R. Brown
Distributed by	Twentieth Century-Fox
Release date(s)	1972
Running time	105 min.
IMDb profile

The Hot Rock (1972) is a sly comic caper movie directed by Peter Yates, starring Robert Redford, George Segal, and Moses Gunn. The film was based upon Donald E. Westlake's novel which introduced his long-running Dortmunder character.

Four more of the Dortmunder series have been filmed (with the character renamed in most instances), beginning with Bank Shot (1974) starring George C. Scott, and followed by Jimmy the Kid (1982) starring Paul LeMat (followed by a 1999 German remake); Why Me? (1990) starring Christopher Lambert; and What's the Worst That Could Happen? (2001) starring Martin Lawrence.

The soundtrack to the film was provided by Quincy Jones.

Tagline:They're out to steal the hottest diamond in town with the funniest schemes in history !

[edit] Plot synopsis

After Dortmunder (Redford) is released from his latest stint in prison, he is approached by his brother-in-law, Andy Kelp (Segal), about another job. Dr. Amusa (Gunn) seeks a valuable gem in a Brooklyn museum that is of great significance to his people in Africa, stolen during colonial times and then re-stolen by various African nations on multiple occasions since. Kelp and Dortmunder are joined by driver Stan Murch (Ron Liebman) and explosives expert Allan Greenberg (Paul Sand), and concoct an elaborate plan for stealing the gem from a museum in Brooklyn. Things go poorly, and the quartet has to steal the diamond again and again.

First off, the diamond is eaten by Greenberg when the initial heist runs afoul and he gets caught by the police. After Greenberg tells them where he hid the rock in the police precinct jail (after bodily disposing it), another attempted heist is done on the precinct. The rock is nowhere to be found. It is later discovered that Greensberg's father (Zero Mostel) (who bailed him out of jail) was the only one who knew where it was.

After a series of clever bluffs, Mr. Greenberg reveals that he put it in his safe deposit box. With the help of a hypnotist, Dortmunder is able to gain access to the safe deposit box and retrieve the rock. As he exits the bank, Mr. Greenberg and Dr. Amusa (who had made a separate deal with Greenberg for the rock after Dormunder's incompetence) arrive at the bank not knowing Dortmunder's success. Dortmunder climbs into a car where the others are waiting and a rousing cheer erupts as they drive off.