Review: The Score

By Michael Rechtshaffen

Hollywood Reporter, Jul. 11, 2001

What with the presence of Actors Studio adherents Robert De Niro, Marlon Brando and Edward Norton, the classically constructed heist movie "The Score" might have just as easily been called "The Method."

Representing a serious change of pace for noted comedy director Frank Oz, the picture is a smart, satisfying throwback to the days when editing still allowed for a little breathing room.

While the less frantic pace won't be a selling point for teenagers, adults looking for a welcome respite from all the summer blockbuster bombast -- there isn't a single talking animal to be found here -- will ensure that the crisply acted Paramount release scores some impressive midseason numbers.

Set against the cosmopolitan backdrop of one of the older sections of Montreal -- with the location actually playing itself instead of the usual New York or nameless American city -- the crime thriller centers on Nick Wells (De Niro), a professional thief who is looking forward to hanging up his safe-cracking tools and concentrating on running the swank jazz club that has served as his cover.

That's welcome news to his sophisticated girlfriend Diane (an underutilized Angela Bassett), a flight attendant who would be willing to settle down with him once he swears off the shady stuff.

But then along comes his longtime fence, the rather flamboyant Max (Brando), who makes him an offer he can't refuse.

Apparently, an extremely valuable smuggled French scepter has been impounded deep inside Montreal's Customs House, and cocky, young Jack Teller (Norton) has been carefully casing the joint in the guise of the mentally challenged Brian, who has a job assisting the building's elderly caretaker (Paul Soles).

Jack needs Nick's talents to carry out the heist, but does Nick need the inevitable aggravation?

With the setup and the jazzy backdrop that would have been right up Eastwood's alley, the film certainly doesn't reinvent the genre. And while there may be nothing particularly fresh or surprising about the Kario Salem-Lem Dobbs-Scott Marshall Smith script, "The Score" gets the job done with a remarkable dearth of destruction.

But then who needs a body count and explosions when you've got the dramatic firepower provided by the likes of De Niro, Norton and a particularly playful Brando -- in the same scenes, no less -- who respectfully give one another room to strut their stuff?

Director Oz does likewise, and though his careful, unhurried approach allows for some easy-to-follow, nicely building tension, at times it feels like the production might have benefited from a slightly tighter edit.

Production values are uniformly impressive, from Rob Hahn's stylish cinematography to Jackson De Govia's sleek production design and Howard Shore's moody, jazz-spiked score that evokes the spirit of Miles Davis.

Clint would approve.

THE SCORE
Paramount
Paramount Pictures and
Mandalay Pictures present
a Horseshoe Bay/Lee Rich production
Director: Frank Oz
Producers: Gary Foster, Lee Rich
Executive producers: Bernie Williams, Adam Platnick
Screenwriters: Kario Salem, Lem Dobbs, Scott Marshall Smith
Story: Daniel E. Taylor, Kario Salem
Director of photography: Rob Hahn
Production designer: Jackson De Govia
Editor: Richard Pearson
Costume designer: Aude Bronson-Howard
Music Howard Shore
Casting: Margery Simkin
Color/stereo
Cast:
Nick Wells: Robert De Niro
Jack Teller: Edward Norton
Diane: Angela Bassett
Max: Marlon Brando
Burt: Gary Farmer
Danny: Paul Soles
Running time -- 123 minutes
MPAA rating: R

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