The Score (2001)

I have always been a fan of the one and only Robert De Niro and as you can tell I have already seen him Godsend, Silver Linings Playbook, Limitless, and Ronin. There was always one film that was lost in the bunch that I had always wanted to see for the reason of who starred alongside De Niro and the film is called The Score which was directed by Frank Oz (The Muppets Take Manhattan) and released in 2001. The film stars De Niro and veteran safe cracker Nick who believes in his heart of hearts that he has done his last job because he wants a little bit of normalcy. That is until his long time partner Max (the late Marlon Brando) convinces him to take one last job with a hot shot newbie that is guaranteed to make them some big money. The film also stars Edward Norton (Keeping The Faith) as Jack/Brian, Angela Bassett (Olympus Has Fallen) as Diane, Gary Farmer (Ghost Dog: The Way Of The Samurai) as Burt, Paul Soles (The Incredible Hulk) as Danny, Jamie Harrold (Natural Born Killers) as Steven, Serge Houde (The Kennedys) as Laurent, Jean-René Ouellet (The Barbarian Invasions) as Andre, Martin Drainville (King Of The Airways) as Jean-Claude, and Claude Despins (Ceci n'est pas un polar) as Albert.

This was an excellent film that really was all about Robert De Niro and Edward Norton as everyone else were just supporting cast. I think they could have done the whole film with literal nobodies and it would have been great with just those two. I loved that Marlon Brando was in the film because he was a legend, but his character could have been played by just about anyone. I am not saying he did a terrible job, but his character was kind of unmemorable. One thing I will say is that I loved most of the film that showed the setup of the operation and what not, but the last 35 minutes of the film is where all the excitement is because there's the anxiety of whether they accomplish it or not plus there is some backstabbing through in along with some master trickery. That last 35 minutes is definitely worth the price of admission and it ended the film on a high note. The number one lesson is that you may be the young gun, but you do not mess with a guy with experience whose been around the block because he will school you. The writing for the film was on point as it never really felt like there were holes that were left unfilled and there was always some sort of risk reward that was definitely worth it. The cinematography was great with all of the amazing shots of Montreal along with all of the action shots during the actual heist. So, I am going to come and say that I definitely suggest this film for anyone who loves De Niro and Norton because they put on quite the masterful performance. Therefore, I am going to go and give the film an A- for a final grade.