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Director: Peter Collinson
The British classic The Italian Job makes brilliant use of British humor along with a clever plot and fantastic stunts to captivate and entertain the viewer. Strong performances by Michael Caine and the supporting actors help to pull the film together into a memorable classic. Criminal Charlie Croker (played by Michael Caine) a has just been released from prison and immediately sets about a to do a big job in Italy. However, when he learns about his former boss being killed in Italy by the mafia, he starts to worry. However, determined to carry out the job, he sets about preparations. Charlie breaks back into prison to ask Mr. Bridger, the leading crime lord, for assistance. Outraged at the intrusion, Mr. Bridger has his henchmen give Charlie “a good going over,” but is interested in the plan. He then decides to help Charlie after learning of a new Fiat factory to be built in China. With the support of Mr. Bridger, Charlie assembles his team and prepares for the job. They go through driving courses, test explosives, and modify three Mini Coopers to carry $4,000,000 worth of gold. However, when the team leaves for Italy, they encounter the mafia who destroy three of their cars and threaten Charlie about the plan. However, the team press on. They infiltrate the traffic station and sabotage the system as to produce a massive traffic jam to trap the gold convoy. With everything set and the traffic jam stopping up all the cars, the team assault the convoy, steal the gold, and begin the getaway. With the police in hot pursuit, the three Minis race down alleys and over rooftops and finally through a sewer pipe and over a weir to escape. After unloading the gold onto a bus and disposing of the cars, everyone is celebrating until the bus skids on the narrow alpine road and rests precariously on the edge of cliff. There it is balanced between the weight of the gold on one end and everyone else on the other. The film ends on a cliffhanger with Charlie exclaiming “Hang on a minute lads, I’ve got a great idea.” The Italian Job makes extensive use of humor as a means to make a film that could easily be very car, quite comedic. The film is a comedy, with Michael Caine driving much of the humor, with the plot setting up the situations. The humor is not conventional but very British. To someone who is not paying attention or is not used to British comedy, many of the jokes can be easily missed or seem crude and pointless. However, to those who are accustomed to British humor, it is hilarious and very gets old. One scene is a test of an explosive charge in a van. When Charlie counts down, the explosives go off, completely destroying the car. Charlie turns to the man who set them and exclaims “You’re only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!” Moments such as this lend themselves greatly to the movie and make it a unique crime movie were it isn’t just dumb comedy but an intelligent movie with funny qualities. The use of stunts during the car chase adds extra excitement to the moment and captivates the audience at the skill displayed. As the police chase the gold laden Mini Coopers, Charlie and his boys use a series of routes leading through sidewalks, buildings, and rooftops to escape and evade capture, At one point, a police car follows the Minis down a flight of stairs and jumping between buildings by driving on the rooftops. Finally, the Minis drive up the ramped roof of a massive building and go in three directions, circle back, and go back down the roof while the police car stalls. The final act of evasions has the minis driving through a sewage pipe with only their headlights as illumination. Coming out of the pipe, the cars carefully drive over a weir and see the last of their pursuers stall in the middle of the river. In a show of driving skill, all three minis proceed to drive up a makeshift ramp on the back of the team's bus in order to offload to the gold. The final mini encounters some trouble doing such, just to highlight the difficulty of the task while also providing another comedic moment. All of this comes together when the bus spins out on the alpine road and is precisely balanced on the edge of the cliff, leaving the men in an awkward predicament. Michael Caine and the accompanying actors help pull all this together into a classic movie. Michael Caine as Charlie Croker, a cockney man who is a seasoned criminal, plays a perfect balance between a cunning criminal who can execute a carefully planned out job and a playboy who will badger someone until he gets what he wants. He is backed up by strong performances from the supporting characters. Mr. Bridger, played by Noёl Coward, acts as a steady force throughout the movie. An intimidating character, he acts as a god like figure whose approval is the final word. Other smaller parts like the men who help Charlie pull off the job add extra humor and their own little part to the movie without pulling it off course. The Italian Job shows how a crime movie does not have to be strictly comedic or serious, but can involve humor without going over the top with it. Combined with Michael Caine’s acting, brilliant stunt performances, and an enticing plot, The Italian Job has made a spot for itself in history.
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June 2018
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