Thief
1981
***½
Director: Michael Mann
Cast: James Caan, Tuesday Weld, Willie Nelson, Jim Belushi, Robert Prosky, Dennis Farina, James Belushi, Nick Nickeas, W.R. Brown, Norm Tobin
A professional safecracker and ex-convict named Frank seeks to pull off one big score and retire with his partner and child. However, the cost of freedom proves to be high. Michael Mann's feature debut contains many of the narrative and stylistic elements associated with his later work, including Heat and Collateral: crime set against the wet, neon-lit streets of nighttime Los Angeles. James Caan gives an intense lead performance and film does looks terrific, although the story, based on Frank Hohimer's 1975 memoir The Home Invaders: Confessions of a Cat Burglar, is somewhat underwhelming. The (occasionally overpowering) electronic score was written by Tangerine Dream.
