SCORE, THE
Released: July 13, 2001
Director Frank Oz returns after the 1999 comedy "Bowfinger" with a tense, star-packed thriller set in Montreal about an aging thief (Robert De Niro) who hopes to retire and live off his ill-gotten wealth when a young kid (Edward Norton) blackmails him into doing one last heist. Along for the ride in roles mostly serving as window dressing are Angela Bassett and the ever-expanding Marlon Brando. Brando, apparently, received $3 million for his phoned-in performance which amounts to as little as ten on screen minutes. His scenes, though adding a neccesary element to the plot, kind of come off as comedic - almost like his role in "The Freshman" with Matthew Broderick from 1990 - a little classy comedic relief... Bassett's role as De Niro's in-the-know lover is not exactly crucial to the plot and slows down the main story. The real star of this movie is Norton, who is quickly proving himself to be his generation's De Niro. Hell, he's made better choices in his last few movies than De Niro has. He plays two character's in "The Score" - Jackie the talented but newbie high-risk robber and also Brian the retarded janitor, his other personality he slips into to infiltrate his next "score". However, despite Norton and some moments of teasing tension during the heist we are left with one of those surprise trick endings that is both cheap and abrupt. Ultimately, 134 minutes of your life are written off and in my case, I realized that "Legally Blonde" starring Reese Witherspoon that opened the same weekend, was a much better movie than "The Score". Save for a rental or better yet save your $12.50 or whatever it now costs at the theatre and go rent "The Freshman" for a better Brando movie.
134 Minutes
Mandalay/Paramount