The Italian Job Review
Owing less to its source material than to Steven_Soderbergh's high-starpower, low-wattage 2001 remake of Ocean's_Eleven, F._Gary_Gray's slick, anonymous Italian Job retains little of the 1969 film's buoyancy, or irreverence -- which in many ways may actually be a good thing. Perhaps realizing that alpha-hipster Guy_Ritchie had already strip-mined the Michael_Caine classic in not one but two goofball caper films (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, both of which also happened to star Jason_Statham), Gray chooses instead to update a few impressive chase scenes, lift a couple one-liners, and otherwise leave the classic untouched. Italy doesn't even make much of an appearance in this Italian Job: Save for an opening heist in the canals of Venice and a snow-capped betrayal in the Alps, the movie languishes in the Southern Californian sun, making good use of L.A.'s seamy pawn shops, nouveau-riche mansions, and permanent gridlock. Unlike the 2001 Ocean's, the humor here is, for the most part, forced and trite; but also unlike Soderbergh's film, there's a genuine sense of gravity to the proceedings, a sense that there's something important riding on ringleader Mark_Wahlberg's only-in-the-movies revenge scheme. For his part, Wahlberg is functional but uninspired; best among the bunch are Charlize_Theron and Mos_Def, both making the most of the few zingers the script has to give them. Michael Hastings, Rovi
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