Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6073 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-12-04
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 119 minutes

Synopsis
Every thief dreams of the big heist that will allow him to leave the business of crime behind. Every thief except Nick (Robert De Niro), a cool, methodical safecracker who never takes on long-shot jobs until his longtime partner, Max (Marlon Brando), offers him the big score--to filch a priceless scepter from the Montreal customs house. Wary about the job, Nick and the hotheaded customs house insider, Jackie (Edward Norton), begin to dissect the elaborate details of entering the building, avoiding the security measures, blowing the safe, and escaping with the scepter. But as in every thrilling crime caper, plans go awry. Skilled comic director Frank Oz is clearly comfortable working with the best method actors from the past three generations. Brando's Max bursts with joyful cynicism, while De Niro is Brando's perfect foil, so collected that every smile seems like a revelation. Norton's Jackie is far more expressive, but it is Norton's smallest movements--holding a gaze a half beat too long--that hint at the secret motives pulsing beneath his skin. Smooth like the scotch Nick likes to drink, and swirling with tension, THE SCORE provides the real payoff to the audience.

Customer Reviews

a difficult film to review...
I did enjoy this film and feel most viewers will no doubt agree. It has three great actors and a story that is satisfying to its conclusion. A strange performance by Brando, almost without effort and dare i say, it shows. De Niro is much better and holds the film together well, very convincing as the cautious thief and we can relate to his caution where the other two are concerned. Edward Norton is excellent and proberbly the most memorable performance of the film. The way he can change into a mentally/physically challenged person is very impressive. Although it does seem as though he is showing off (who can blame him, he is alongside two of the greatest actors of all time)

De Niro and Norton at their best!
Robert De Niro plays a guy called Nick who is part-time safe breaker and Jazz club owner who is about to retire when approached by Brando he is persuaded to accept this "one last job".A young and cocky Edward Norton is the inside man and plays a brilliant part as a mentally backward person who is not!Brando has a somewhat cameo role and Angela Bassett is the love interest.The film runs at a fast pace throughout with a fair amount of edge of seat drama and a superb end twist.I do not want to give away any of the plot.A really good film, well-produced and directed and a bargain buy.

A by the numbers heist movie which succeeds for the reasons that it shouldn't.
I was drawn to this movie by the mixture of Bobby D, Edward Norton and the late Marlon Brando all sharing the screen, but in the end, I enjoyed it for a vastly different reason to the acting (which on all accounts apart from Norton's, was inexcusably poor.)

The way this film succeeds is strange.
It takes all the clichés of the heist movie:
1. The middle aged guy who wants to go straight but gets roped into doing "one last job" by his old friend/superior/boss/all 3 at once
2. The old friend/superior/boss/all 3 at once who is greatly uncharacterised that ropes the "one last job" guy into said job. Sub-plot about getting into debt with some dodgy mob types is usually included.
3. The cocky, volatile young gun.
4. The girlfriend of the "one last job" guy that's only there because if there were any more testerone in the film, dvd players all around the world would begin imploding.

And then it combines them all into the same picture, totally by the numbers, and the effect this gives is that you imagine the characters breaking the fourth wall and winking at you, letting you know that it's self-referentialist idiocy, which makes it all okay.

Because these 4 clichés are a cinematic legacy which you can't help but love, this film knowingly exacts each cliché PERFECTLY, leaving you with a smile on your face despite the fact you know this is in all likelihood the most unoriginal film ever made.
And through its complete and utter lack of originality, it almost becomes the exact opposite, and makes for a tongue in cheek thrill ride.

Bonus points for Edward Norton proving his versatility by playing basically 2 people at once.