Thick as Thieves

This film has a good story, but you have to have a certain appreciation for warped humor to appreciate it. The characters range from mildly unusual to downright peculiar. Pointy (Michael Jai White) is a black crime boss who is trying desperately to be a yuppie, playing golf at the country club, owning a French restaurant and lecturing on culture to anyone who will listen. All this is highly incongruous with the drug dealing, cap-busting realities of his crime syndicate, which makes him a droll and entertaining character. Mackin (Alec Baldwin) is a meticulous thief, who does occasional heists for the Mafia. He is an obsessive collector of vinyl jazz albums and takes his dog on capers because he wants to spend quality time with him.

When Mackin does a food stamp heist for Pointy, Pointy double-crosses him. This sets up Mackin's revenge, which encompasses most of the film. The vendetta keeps escalating and the Mafia starts losing patience with both antagonists, introducing a third element into the conflict. The plot has a number of interesting twists and the climax is quite unexpected.

First time director Scott Sanders' direction was solid but nothing special. The music, especially the jazz, was excellent. His work with the cast was nicely done, adding a sardonic tone to the entire movie, although I thought at times he got carried away with the disjointed humor.

The acting was generally very good. Alec Baldwin's quirky portrayal of this painstaking thief was delightful. Rebecca De Mornay played a very different character than we are used to seeing from her. She was terrific as the tough and impassive cop with an understated and sarcastic wit. However, the best performances were given by Michael Jai White and Andre Braugher. White stole the show with his oh-so-refined mob boss impression. Braugher was great as his cool and calculating lieutenant, with nerves of steel and a brilliant criminal mind.

Overall, this was a good crime story that meandered a bit too much from the main plot. I rated it a 7/10. Add a point if you like wry incongruous humor because this film has plenty.

I watched this movie late at night, but I was right wide awake! The movie is a story about a thief who after a successful assignment, escapes a attempt at killing him and seeks for revenge after a black gangster who likes the fine things in live.

The movie distinguishes itself from other crime movies because of the humor and the witty and funny dialog. Michael Jai White proves to be a very good actor. I knew him from Spawn, but this role is completely different and he is impressive. Baldwin is a very versatile actor who does great in his role as Mackin the thief. The other roles a nicely casted too. It is a well paced, intelligent humorous gangster movie. Rebecca DeMornay proves that you don't have to have a big role to impress. She reminded me of Frances McDormand in Fargo.

I can't understand why I didn't hear about this movie before. An example of gems waiting to be discovered by the audience. I loved it.

Alec Baldwin, after more than a decade-and-a-half of not becoming the major star we all thought he would be back in the eighties, finally proves that he has star power to burn. Unfortunately, he shows it in a otherwise unspectacular movie that very few people will ever see unless they are late night cable TV junkies or Video store residents.

Don't get me wrong--"Thick as Thieves" is a pretty good crime movie, especially compared to the usual no-story, all-special effects, written-by-the-marketing-department, incomprehensible garbage being cranked out by the studios today. It does have a story, a plot, and characters. In fact, if the filmmakers had a bit more skill, you might mistake "Thieves" for a Quentin Tarantino adaptation of an Elmore Leonard novel. Writer-director Scott Sanders doesn't quite have the ear for dialog or the visual clarity of Tarantino, however (and, as maligned by hipster film nuts as Quentin has become, all you have to do is rent "Jackie Brown" to know that the man does know how to develop characters and tell a damn story--even if he is a wanton thief of style). Not having read the original novel "Thieves" is based on, I can't really comment on whether author Patrick Quinn is an up-and-coming Leonard. But even if he really is as good as the master, or only aspires to that high level, I have the feeling that there was much lost in the transfer from word to image. First-timer Sanders has good taste in material, to be sure. And his storytelling and visual styles are clean--but they are also dully TV-like at times. This could be a result of the modest budget (The mid-range budget might also explain the huge cast who rarely appear together in groups numbering more than three--the trick is you get them each to do a day or two's work here and there instead of paying a regular sized cast to perform for an entire film).

And, as I mentioned before, Alec Baldwin commands the screen with major star power, in a low-key, subtle performance, reminicent of another little-seen character crime flick starring "the talented Baldwin" from a long time ago, "Miami Blues." One major star turn + a lot of sturdy work from a host of character actors can sometimes = a good movie. In this case, unfortunately, it only = an OK one.

Still, although not up there with the best crime movies, "Thick as Thieves" is superlative when compare to other movies that never have a life outside of Cable TV or the local video store.

Like Supercords, I regret that Scott Sanders 's Thick as thieves is the sole movie he wrote/directed up to this day. Not having read the novel, I cannot speak of the respective merits of the book and the screenplay; but the screenplay /direction combination results in a very entertaining, swift-paced, well-knit, and clear movie ( in spite of the intricacy of simultaneous action at three different levels: the mob's, Baldwin's, and the cops'), with many welcome humorous touches ; good editing, then, and good musical score, too. Another asset is the cast, apparently selected with great care, up to the smallest parts: if Michael Jay White and Andre Braugher got rightly-deserved praise, all the players rate from very good to excellent: Alec Baldwin and his sidekicks, Bruce Greenwood ( almost unrecognizable ) and Ricky Harris, mobsters Richard Edson and Reginald Ballard,amusing Janeane Garofalo, quietly effective and attractive Rebecca de Mornay, and little-known but accomplished actor Robert Miano as the deceptively mild-mannered second-in command of the local mafia.

This flick has me laughing out loud ALONE in my apartment. I found the dialog a total trip. I love Andre Braugher for "Homicide," God bless it. I grew some respect for Alec Baldwin, who I've never seen play this kind of role. This thing is truly worth seeing if you have a quirky, dirty, urban sense of humor. Short, pointless and entertaining.