Movie Review: Thief (1981)

 

DIRECTOR: Michael Mann. CAST: James Caan, Tuesday Weld, Willie Nelson, James Belushi, Robert Prosky, Tom Signorelli, Dennis Farina, Nick Nickeas, W.R. Bill Brown, Norm Tobin, William Petersen, John Santucci, Gavin MacFadyen, Chuck Adamson, Sam Cirone, Spero Anast, Hal Frank, Patti Ross.
Underrated James Caan crime noir vehicle about a professional safecracker working his way towards a normal life. Frank gets involved with a local gangster for a big score that will allow him to retire to the life he wants as a model citizen. Unfortunately, that is easier said than done—the big-time mobster doesn’t want to let him out and has other plans to keep Frank under his thumb. He reinvests Frank’s money and schedules future scores without consulting him, telling him that he can easily destroy everything Frank has been working towards. THIEF is a great crime thriller with fine direction from Michael Mann, making his feature film debut after several years of television dramas. Mann utilizes many of his trademark filmmaking techniques to his advantage, making THIEF a visually great movie as well. James Belushi, Robert Prosky, Dennis Farina, and William Petersen all make their film debuts here. Jerry Bruckheimer also produced THIEF before joining forces with Don Simpson and becoming who he is today. Great soundtrack by TANGERINE DREAM that adds to the film’s gritty, somber tone. Watch the Criterion Blu-ray edition for the best representation of all of THIEF’s details.

Movie Review: 10 to Midnight (1983)

 

DIRECTOR: J. Lee Thompson. CAST: Charles Bronson, Lisa Eilbacher, Andrew Stevens, Gene Davis, Geoffrey Lewis, Wilford Brimley, Robert F. Lyons, Bert Williams, Iva Lane, Ola Ray, Kelly Preston, Cosie Costa, Paul McCallum, Jeana Keough, June Gilbert, Arthur Hansel, Sam Chew, Katrina Parish.
Sleazy Charles Bronson cop thriller in which ol’ Granite Face takes on a serial killer murdering beautiful women in the Los Angeles area. He has the right suspect in mind—a creepy office equipment repairman who works in the same office as two of the victims. This guy is a total incel decades before that was a thing—women frequently reject his crude sexual advances, leading him to place gross crank calls to their homes and then murder them. He kills these women while naked save for a pair of rubber gloves so there are no fingerprints to find. His alibis are sound too. DNA evidence and caller ID didn’t exist back then, so Charles Bronson’s character relies on intuition and planted evidence to frame his obvious suspect. Nothing ever happens at 11:50 PM; 10 TO MIDNIGHT is just a snappy movie title. This movie would likely be terrible if not for the talented cast and direction keeping it watchable—Gene Davis is particularly convincing as the psychotic murderer. Modern viewers who like TV cop shows like LAW & ORDER: SVU may be intrigued by the sex killer story taking place in a time before homicide detectives relied on DNA evidence to solve these crimes. Critics hated 10 TO MIDNIGHT when it was originally released—Roger Ebert referred to it as “a scummy little sewer of a movie” before going further to describe it as a “cesspool” and a “garbage disposal.” He wasn’t completely wrong. However, 10 TO MIDNIGHT is also quite possibly the best of both Charles Bronson’s and J. Lee Thompson’s ‘80s low-budget exploitation action fare.