The Score

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The Score

The Score: Performances 2 - Story 0 (final)

Watching heist movie's have always made me want to become a professional thief. Must be the excitement involved in the planning and execution of these capers. That, and also the way the characters make robbing a bank or jewelry store look very cool. I've always thoroughly enjoyed movies like Hudson Hawk, The Usual Suspects, or Reservoir Dogs. In most of these heist movies, you were able to enjoy the performances of the acting ensemble and all the while anxiously waiting to know what surprise the next scene would bring. The Score, however, was very predictable thus eliminating any suspense. Nevertheless, it is still worth watching for the spectacular performances of Robert De Niro and particularly Edward Norton.

De Niro of course gives us a brilliant performance with each and every movie that he's in. At this point in his career, it's pretty much expected that he will deliver and not let us down. In The Score De Niro plays a seasoned professional thief who is very good at his craft. He is very smooth, very wise, and he has yet to disappoint. For Norton, although he has had great performances in movies like American History X and Fight Club, this may be his best performance to date. In Norton's role he faces the challenging task of switching between two very different characters: a scheming young thief and a mentally-challenged janitor. There must be something like a light switch in him because he can turn either character on or off at will. His "mentally-challenged" act is especially convincing. His performance in The Score should open up many opportunities for Edward Norton.

The storyline is nothing out of the ordinary and we can usually see what's coming next. Nick (Robert De Niro) is a well-trained burglar who is very cautious on the jobs that chooses to accept. Not wanting to risk imprisonment, he has been telling himself on each job that one would be his last. That was many jobs ago, but this time you can tell he means it. This already seems to have been done before, where a seasoned veteran is looking to leave their life of crime so they take one last big job before retirement. Along comes Jack (Edward Norton), an unprofessional rookie looking to break into the thievery business, who brings with him a proposition to steal a historic scepter from a Canadian customs building. The risk involved is very high but the scepter is worth millions. Nick struggles with the decision whether or not to take the job. Against the wishes of his girlfriend (Angela Bassett) who wants him out of his life of crime, Nick decides to take this high risk job so that he can retire from his life of crime. So Nick and Jack set out to plan the caper. Jack infiltrates the customs building by becoming a janitor with his alter-ego Brian who is mentally-challenged so as not to draw suspicion. It's decided that Jack will do his part by turning off security alarms and video cameras from a control room while Nick breaks in and steals the scepter. They set off to execute the meticulously planned strategy and before they even start, you think back to the tagline on the movie poster for The Score, "There are no partners in crime." Gee, what happens next? Needless to say, things don't go as planned. The only problem is, it's not really a surprise at all.

Basically, a very weak story but the performances of the two main players should be enough to compensate for the story's deficiencies.

-Tso