The Brink's Job

A group of small-time crooks in Boston successfully rob millions of dollars from an inept and complacent security firm, only to get their collars felt.

This film's script is based on real-life events in 1950 and many hundreds of hours of interviews with surviving members of the gang. The film is played part action, part for laughs.

The FBI were convinced that this was the work of organised crime and/or communists, spent a fortune trying to crack the case, and only ever retrieved a small fraction of the loot. Some of the local population treated the crooks as folk heroes, which the authorities were not at all keen on.

The film is basically not at all bad but it is slightly unevenly paced and of course rather slow by modern standards, being (for a movie) fairly realistic. Also whilst Falk is a pretty good actor rather than a one-trick pony , it is difficult to look past Lt Columbo and see him as a small time crook here.

So overall with caveats (I.e. bearing in mind what the film is about and how it is made), I give this 7/10.

In 1938 Boston, petty criminal Tony Pino (Peter Falk) and his robbery gang get caught. In 1944, his friend Joe McGinnis (Peter Boyle) picks him up after getting released from prison. He rejoins wife Mary (Gena Rowlands). He gets a new crew which includes idiot brother-in-law Vinnie (Allen Garfield), disturbed war veteran Specs O'Keefe (Warren Oates), and Jazz Maffie (Paul Sorvino). The bumbling crew struggles to rob a candy factory. Tony passes by Brink's and is enticed by the cash. He talks into the warehouse and copies a key. The crew starts stealing from the trucks but no one seems to catch on. They realize the careless security and robs the vault for $1 million. The large amount and notoriety draws in J. Edgar Hoover (Sheldon Leonard).

It's a fine period heist movie from William Friedkin. There's a bit of fun. This is not a high functioning crew. It could easily turn into a more slapstick comedy than it already is. There are some great idiocy like Specs suggesting blasting the vault with a bazooka. There are bits and pieces of goodness but I'm less enamored with the last section. It becomes a muddle as the crew is gathered up. The action is lost and I can't figure out each character. Normally, the action would go bigger into the climax. I do have respect for going the other way including Mary casually making dinner for the cops.

I've been trying to pick up a VHS of this flick for 2 years and finally won it on an auction. It was on AMC a few years back and I caught about 30 minutes of it. I was so intrigued that I started to look for a chance to buy it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film, a great cast with a young Peter Falk leading the way. Peter Boyle was realistic in his portrayal of the money launderer. Used VHS tapes are out there and although this robbery occurred in the 50's there is enough suspense and a ton of surprises for you. Sometimes a true story beats the best fiction a writer can come up with.

Would never go as far as saying this film is a forgotten gem ! .... but it is still enjoyable and that is down to the likeable cast and the easy going feel of them film ... Recommended for a one time watch , pretty forgettable but it has a certain charm to it which leaves a smile on your face !

Compared to the hyped up, over violent fare that passes for crime movies, this movie is no contender. But it's a warm, funny, well paced caper flick about some North Boston Italians who stumbled on to the fact that the great Brink's was a paper tiger.