The Score (2001)

Director:

Frank Oz

Writers (WGA):

Daniel E. Taylor (story) and
Kario Salem (story) ...

Release Date:

13 July 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

There are no partners in crime

Plot:

An aging thief hopes to retire and live off his ill-gotten wealth when a young kid convinces him into doing one last heist.

Plot Keywords:

Montreal | Thief | Customs House | Heist | Jazz Club

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Robert De Niro	...	Nick Wells
Edward Norton	...	Jack Teller
Marlon Brando	...	Max
Angela Bassett	...	Diane
Gary Farmer	...	Burt
Paul Soles	...	Danny
Jamie Harrold	...	Steven
Serge Houde	...	Laurent
Jean-René Ouellet	...	André (as Jean Rene Ouellet)
Martin Drainville	...	Jean-Claude
Claude Despins	...	Albert
Richard Waugh	...	Sapperstein
Mark Camacho	...	Sapperstein's Cousin
Marie-Josée Colburn	...	Woman in Study (as Marie-Josee D'Amours)
Gavin Svensson	...	Man in Study

Also Known As:

The Score (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color (DeLuxe)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Brazil:18 | USA:R (certificate #38218) | Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | Philippines:R-18 | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Alberta/Manitoba) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (British Columbia) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hungary:14 | Malaysia:(Banned) | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:M | Norway:15 | Peru:PT | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Singapore:PG (cut) | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

The song playing on "Brian"/Nick's radio as he rides in the elevator on his way to perform the heist is the same song that plays in Die Hard (1988) when the thieves crack the vault of the Nakatomi Tower.

Goofs:

Factual errors: De Niro uses a PVS-14 night vision monocular to see the IR beams while he is in the basement about to go into the cage containing the safe. However IR beams do not show up red, they show up white when using night vision devices.

Quotes:

Nick Wells: Nice working with you, ace. Okay, bye-bye.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Making 'The Score' (2001) (V)

Soundtrack:

Clap Your Hands

The Score scores big!

Yep, it's another clichéd script: Career cat burglar Nick (Robert De Niro, Meet the Parents) is about to take on a nearly impossible heist that requires his joining forces with a talented but brash young accomplice, Jackie (Edward Norton, American History X), whom he doesn't particularly like. The dubious alliance, arranged by Nick's longtime friend and fence, Max (Marlon Brando, Don Juan deMarco), throws a wrench into Nick's plan to retire from crime and settle down with his lady love, Diane (Angela Bassett, Supernova).

Uh-huh. The old, "One more job, then I'll retire," routine. But that's where the routine ends. The trio of brilliant lead actors transcend the plot, and overcome the sometimes sluggish direction (courtesy of Frank Oz, who did Bowfinger and many other comedies -- and children's flicks, such as The Indian in the Cupboard). It's an absolute pleasure from start to finish, just to watch and study these men -- but then, they could probably be taking turns reading the phone book and make it seem fascinating. (Angela Bassett is excellent too, but she is unfortunately relegated to the one-dimensional, obligatory "girlfriend role" here.)

The score is a big one: a 16th century royal scepter worth $30 million dollars. It's locked away in the basement of The Customs House in Montreal, Canada, and security is getting tighter by the day. Jackie infiltrates the House, posing as "Brian," a janitor afflicted with cerebral palsy. Norton is flawless in his dual roles (remember his schizo debut in Primal Fear?), and better still, he plays Brian as funny and endearing without ever creeping into caricature-ville. Meanwhile, Nick is figuring out how to bypass the ironclad security system and crack the uncrackable safe. DeNiro doesn't have a lot to do with his character, but what he was given, he runs with. He not only makes you believe the clichés, you like them, dammit. Brando is clearly having fun with his role -- one tailor-made just for him. "I wrote the part specifically for Brando," said co-writer Kario Salem. "I imagined him as a cross between Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams -- someone of great flamboyance and humor and wit and someone of great size, both literally and figuratively." Brando nails it all the way. (Interesting aside: the roles of Nick and Jackie were originally slated for Michael Douglas and Ben Affleck.)

The twist ending is given away a bit too early (but then there's another twist), and there isn't anything here we haven't seen before. However, with three generations of the world's best actors on the screen, The Score scores big.