Thief

Dir: Michael Mann

1981

*****

I whole-heartedly believe that the 1970s was and is the best decade when it comes to film. The 1980s comes close, but Michael Mann’s feature film debut Thief is a 70s film in the 80s but features the best of both decades. It is probably Mann’s best film to date, with Manhunter and The Keep close behind (I like Heat a lot but always thought LA Takedown was actually better). Thief is James Cann’s favorite film of his own (just behind The Godfather) and I would argue that it represents the last of a certain sort of thriller and the beginning of a new era. It is similar to the great crime thrillers of the 1970s but it also has something refreshingly updated about it, manly thanks to the characters, performances and its somewhat neo-noir existential stylings. Mann made Caan research everything he could about being a thief and hired several ex-safe crackers as advicers, many of whom ended up with parts in the film. The safe that Cann’s character Frank drills into in the beginning sequence was a real safe that the film production team bought for $100,000 and Cann actually learned how to drill into it and does so in one take. Cann got into character thanks to his research and after that the film almost wrote itself. The story is based on Frank Hohimer’s 1975 novel The Home Invaders: Confessions of a Cat Burglar, but Caan based his character on John Santucci, who had been recently paroled for burglary and was hired as technical adviser, as well as playing corrupt cop Detective Urizzi. Caan avoided as direct impersonation, as he felt it would be too comedic given his exuberant personality, and the role became something of a challenge with Caan later admitting "I like to be emotionally available, but this guy is available to nothing."  Personally think it’s one of his greatest performances. The café scene between Caan and Tuesday Weld is now considered a classic and is one of my personal favorites of all time. It’s a magical moment that keeps you second guessing and totally convinces the viewer they are watching something real. Weld’s tears were real and Caan has since admitted it is the best piece of acting he’s ever done and is proud of the most. I love how technical the film is and how precise everything is without losing any charm or magic. I also love how upside-down it is, what with having a real life criminal play a detective and two police officers play criminals (Nick Nickeas was an ex-Chicago cop and Dennis Farina was still serving at the time of filming). It looks amazing throughout, thanks to Mann’s vision and his ability to convince the producers to pay for things most producers would refuse to pay for (a real safe, a real drill, a sixty-thousand gallon water truck to keep the streets constantly wet and a real house to explode – although it wasn’t meant to fully explode, far too much dynamite was used in error). The soundtrack also has a huge part to play in the overall sleek feel of the film. The brilliant Tangerine Dream supplied a dreamy synth score that worked perfectly with the mood, tone and overall feel of the production. It is sublime and horribly underrated. Mann had made great TV for a number of years before his move in to feature films and his first few are outstanding. I’m not sure what happened really, but much as I’m sure people will tell me it is Heat, I personally think Thief is Mann’s true masterpiece.