The Italian Job (2003)

REVIEW
If it takes a thief to catch a thief, then The Italian Job, an enjoyable remake of the 1969 Michael Caine thriller, takes that route five better by providing a quintuple of bad guys, er, good guys, to track down one of their own . . . the bad guy. With most of the action now set in Los Angeles (the original's setting was Italy), the film is a roller-coaster ride of tension and thrills told in a quite efficient style of storytelling. Safecracker Sutherland leads his group to a successful haul, only to be shot by Norton, who leaves the rest of his gang for dead and walks off with $35 million in gold bullion. A year later, Surrogate son Wahlberg convinces real daughter Theron to help exact revenge for her father's murder -- and retrieve the money -- when they locate their old pal. The plan includes creating a major traffic jam on the streets of L.A. -- like anyone would even notice. The characterizations tend toward stock, and Wahlberg and Theron aren't exactly an electric twosome, but the story never falters in its own sense of logic, Gray's direction is crisp and playful, there's a knockout chase sequence, and the excitement level is always on high.