The Score

The Score stars Robert De Niro as Nick Wells, an expert jewel thief who is about to retire to marry his girlfriend when his friend Max, played by Marlon Brando ask him to do one last job. There is a priceless sceptre stored in a safe in the impenetrable Montreal Customs House. A young man called Jack, played by Edward Norton has spent weeks casing the joint and learning all the security secrets, by posing as the mentally handicapped Brian, and getting a job as the assistant janitor. No one suspects Brian really understands much, and they talk openly in front of him about safes and security. But Brian, or should I say Jack has a plan to steal the sceptre. Through Max he is introduced at Nick who takes an immediate dislike to him. However, they work together to formulate a plan and carry it out.

The Score is more than just another heist movie. It's a very interesting combination of a character study and a thriller, and although it has a few brilliant twists, it never resorts to being stereotypical. It's too intelligent for that. The acting and the story are so interesting that I was captivated from the start to the end. Although Nick is a criminal, I wanted him to succeed. He's an unusual kind of criminal in that he's actually a nice guy who doesn't want to hurt anyone, and goes out of his way to make sure that he doesn't. He also wants complete control of the job or he refuses to do it. This angers Jack, who, being a young hot-shot who lacks Nick's experience, doesn't seem to understand the need for absolute precision. Marlon Brando is also great in this film. He's a fat old man now but he hasn't lost his soft Godfather voice. When Nick decides that the job is too dangerous, he tries to pull out, and we are treated to a fine scene set in a half-built swimming pool, where Max uses emotional blackmail to convince Nick to proceed.