Warning: contains spoiler
This movie, in the way it was crafted, reminded me of the craftsmanship of the great films of the forties. (Casablanca, African Queen, Mildred Pierce, to name a few of my favorites) That is, straightforward in telling the story and no superfluous fluff. The screenwriters could have easily gone astray in this film by adding love scenes between the daughter and the boy or even Lauper and Walken's character, but they deftly avoided this and stuck to the story. I enjoyed each and every performance and it is a shame that because of the Academy's focus on mainstream cinema Christopher Walkens will probably be overlooked at Oscar time. He conveyed so much with his facial expressions alone that it is easy to watch this movie again just for his low key performance.
My favorite scene in the film was where the Walkens character is practicing opening safes and his cohorts are watching this. Near the end of it they are shown asleep on the couch while Vic is still hard at work on the locks. This reminded me of the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane who slept while Christ 'watched'. I am not saying Walkens character is a Christ figure. But in this he and Christ were at one: they took their craft seriously. And later when the 'disciples' begin to loose faith in Walken's character he confidently parades out of the house and announces that the next day the heist will come down.
One minor glitch: Walkens character didn't impress me as the type who would botch an automobile repair job; so at that point I felt something was fishy, but I quickly forgot about that fact and rode the crest of the story. The minor characters were all equal to their roles and I was pleasantly pleased with Cindy Lauper. Give this one 9 out of 10 and hope it garners a Oscar nomination.
This movie, in the way it was crafted, reminded me of the craftsmanship of the great films of the forties. (Casablanca, African Queen, Mildred Pierce, to name a few of my favorites) That is, straightforward in telling the story and no superfluous fluff. The screenwriters could have easily gone astray in this film by adding love scenes between the daughter and the boy or even Lauper and Walken's character, but they deftly avoided this and stuck to the story. I enjoyed each and every performance and it is a shame that because of the Academy's focus on mainstream cinema Christopher Walkens will probably be overlooked at Oscar time. He conveyed so much with his facial expressions alone that it is easy to watch this movie again just for his low key performance.
My favorite scene in the film was where the Walkens character is practicing opening safes and his cohorts are watching this. Near the end of it they are shown asleep on the couch while Vic is still hard at work on the locks. This reminded me of the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane who slept while Christ 'watched'. I am not saying Walkens character is a Christ figure. But in this he and Christ were at one: they took their craft seriously. And later when the 'disciples' begin to loose faith in Walken's character he confidently parades out of the house and announces that the next day the heist will come down.
One minor glitch: Walkens character didn't impress me as the type who would botch an automobile repair job; so at that point I felt something was fishy, but I quickly forgot about that fact and rode the crest of the story. The minor characters were all equal to their roles and I was pleasantly pleased with Cindy Lauper. Give this one 9 out of 10 and hope it garners a Oscar nomination.