"don't come onto me now with your jailhouse beep 'cause you are not that guy"
Awesome line.
Back off!
Way
off!

I have always liked this film,especially from being from the Chicago area. Alot of the complaints,music,Manns directing,forget to take into acount this is a 25 year old movie. Like an artists early work it evolves into ones later work. Comparing it to Heat one can see how he took what he learned from experiance and aplied it. There is alot of reality in this film such as the chroming plant. I have built street rods since I was a kid and did tons of business with a chrome plant on the west side of Chicago. It was run by one of the nicest old guys I ever met,a least he was cool to me. Long story short I later found out he was one of the biggest mob guys in town,which would explain the numerous times I saw hand guns around the joint. I once joked with him about them bieng used for protection against the rats. He replied "you`d be suprised how big they can get."

One of the most disturbing speeches ever

Leo: Look. I said beep look at 'im! Look at what happened to ya friend 'cause you gotta go against the way the things go down. You treat what I try to do for you like beep You don't wanna work for me, what's wrong with you? And then, you carry a piece, in my house! You one of those burned-out demolished wackos in the joint? You're scary, because you don't give a beep But don't come onto me now with your jailhouse beep 'cause you are not that guy, dont'chu get it, you prick? You got a home, car, businesses, family, n' I own the paper on ya whole beep life. I'll put ya beep wife on the street to be beep in the ass by beep and Puerto Ricans. Ya kids mine because I bought 'it. You got 'im on loan, he is leased, you are renting him. I'll whack out ya whole family. People'll be eatin' 'em in their lunch tomorrow in their Wimpyburgers and not know it. You get paid what I say. You do what I say, I run you, there is no discussion. I want, you work, until you are burned-out, you are busted, or you're dead . . . you get it? You got responsibilities - tighten up n' do it. Clean this mess up, get 'im outta here. Back to work, Frank

Its a movie with Mighty Joe Young and his band in it - how can that be bad! Oh and Jimmy Caan and Robert Prosky doing some mighty fine work. To tell you the truth - the first time I saw Heat I thought it was over-long but still good and it reminded me of Thief. Saw it again the other night and bar the rest of the sound-track (see above) it holds up very well IMHO.

Saw this last night, wasn't expecting too much from it but since Cann was in it i gave it a chance, great film and reminded me so much of Heat.

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Petersen was the young guy with the baseball bat ? who bears down on Caan when he is arguing with Weld in the bar. Caan flashes the .45 he has in his waistband and Petersen heads for the tall trees !
I don't like Weld at all and I dislike but admire Caan ( it is easy to see why he didn't work for a long time since he had the reputation of being difficult.
Nevertheless, it is a bloody good movie although Prosky's use, in a 1981 movie, of the worst obscene name of the female organ, takes one's breath away.
As for the soundtrackit is just perfectamundo !

I never noticed William Petersen in the movie at all, the only bartender was some older guy

Stern Rules.
BABABOEY BABABOEY

This thread is absolute beep Thief is without a doubt one of the best crime movies ever made, the soundtrack and visuals are outstanding, and James Caan and Robert Prosky give brilliant performances. And one of the previous posters got it right, the ending is very good. its sad, because he has to give up on his wife and child in order for them to be safe, but its also great because he goes and wastes all of those despicable mob beep No one can slate this film.

Listening to a film opinion by anyone associated to do with Stern is like having a preschooler tutor you in quantum mechanics. If you thought Thief was terrible, watch a Seagal flick other than Above The Law (not that it's much better) then, having gained an idea of what is a terrible film, leave Thief to those who can appreciate a well-done crime film on a small scale.

The movie was terribleit started off ok, I like Jimmy C it started drifting into a bad TV movie of the week.
I rented it because of that dolt Frotto on the Stern channelhe said it was what the mafia was really like.
I can hardly believe I made it through the movie

Yeah, wasn't ironic, though?
Dennis Farina was a Chicago police officer in real life. John Santucci was a professional thief, and from what I understand he loaned many of the tools used in the movie. Santucci ended up back in prison after the movie was shot.
"I really don't like talking about my flair."

watch "Manhunter" more Mann.Farina has a large supporting role.Does a real good job to
plays a cop by the way
oh and its a great movie a must see

I've been wanting to see this, and I really enjoyed it. But I was suprised how minute Dennis Farina's role was.
But I did enjoy the irony of Farina playing a mobster and John Santucci playing a police officer.
"The following occurs between (time frame). Events occur in real time."

Remember, this was Mann's first feature. Great writing, great acting, really good direction. He was like 37 when he made this. Same age Brett Ratner is nowKeep trying, Ratner.

LOL i always thought that soundtrack got some seriously undiserved flac
I also NEVER get tired off seeing it
Heat was epic
Thief was gritty
actually Heat was epic and gritty perfect actually

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beep music spoils a good film.

I have watched this movie SEVERAL times over the years, and I never get tired of seeing it. No matter what the ups and downs that people on here write about, I think the movie is Enjoyable. It is very Gritty and to the point. It portrays a side of life that some of us know about, and some of us don't. Everybody has different likes and dislikes. I have seen movies that I think are better(not a lot of tho), but I have seen a lot of movies that are a lot worse.

Actually, no; there's to be no 'discussion' - you're just
wrong
!!
Oh, go on then
Disjointed? In what way? Inane dialogue? ONE example to be going on with, please "Laughable direction"?? Surprising, considering I'd wager that most Mann afficionados could mark his progression from this to your well-received
Heat
, if put side-by-side for a 'comparison'
I look forward to your justifications, although I doubt you'll find many people who concur !
"I wish I could carry your smile in my heart, for times when my life feels so low"

This film in many ways is a percursor to "Heat". I like to think of it as "Heat" without the police element. Certain scenes are very similar (like the scene where Caan gets pulled over), not just because of Michael Mann's style of writing/directing, but I think in such a way that he was always trying to make a film like "Heat," but didn't get it exactly as he wished until 1995. In that regard you're right. From wanting to cast William L. Petersen in "Heat" before switching to do "Manhunter," to doing it as the TV movie "L.A. Takedown," it just seems like Mann had been trying for a long time to make "Heat" and "Thief" was the first stepping stone, both towards that project and towards being a successful director.
That said, I think both films have a lot of things going for it and I enjoy "Thief" just as much as "Heat." James Caan I think is a wonderful actor who was very believable at playing tough, yet principled, yet still flawed good guys, and really devious despicable bad guys. His role in "Thief" definitely struck me as one of his best, if not THE best, performances of his life. He plays his emotions so well, and makes it all work. The man has different sides to him. He can be a compassionate and caring man capable of sensitivity and romance (I thought his relationship with Tuesday Weld was very believable and touching, from what he says to her in the coffee shop to convince her to be with him, to the scene where he tells her what he doeswhich I thought was hilarious, and shows his principles as well, because Willie Nelson told him, "Lie to no one."), but he's also cold and methodical. That scene where he tells her to leave him and get out of his lifethat's such a great scene because it shows how much he loves her, but more than that it shows how deep his principles run.
Remember what Robert Prosky said to him, "You're not that guy anymore." He could not allow himself to be controlled, so he had to become that guy again, and that meant turning away anything and everything he had built up that could hold him back. The only way he could really get back his life is if he destroyed it. There's few things more dangerous than a man with nothing to lose. His friends were dead, his freedom was gone already, he had to remove everything. His wife, his child, his business, everything. That's why I think that scene is so powerful because in his facial expression alone, as cold as he is, you can tell that he is doing the most painful thing he can think of, and the most determined.
If a comparison there must be made to "Heat," "Have no attachments, have nothing in your life that you can not turn your back on in 30 seconds flat if you spot the heat around the corner." The heat was on for Caan in this film, and I think the end shootout, as cliche as it might seem to end a film with a shootout, it is one of the most believable and one of the most logical (how else could it end?).
I can't tell you to like this film. I'm not much good at convincing and persuasion. I can only give my opinion of the film and hope that someone takes it to heart when considering their own opinions. In all honesty, some scenes did bore me, at least the first time around. But I watched it quite a few more times, and I can honestly say the film holds as much for me as "Heat" does. I think "Thief" is a good film. But that's me.
Note: Remember what Jon Voight said in "Heat" to Robert DeNiro when he was telling him about Pacino. "He took down Frank's crew in Chicago." Interesting connection. Makes one wonder what happened to him after he survived in "Thief."