The Score is a
2001The year 2001 in film involved some significant events. -Top-grossing films:...
crimeCrime is the breach of one or more rules or laws for which some governing authority, via mechanisms such as police power, may ultimately prescribe a conviction...
dramaDrama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a collective...
directed by
Frank OzFrank Oz is a British-born American film director, actor and puppeteer.-Early life:Oz was born in Hereford, England, the son of Frances and Isidore Oznowicz, both of whom were puppeteers. His parents were refugees from the Holocaust who moved to England after fighting the Nazis with the Dutch...
and starring Robert DeNiro,
Edward NortonEdward Harrison Norton is an American film actor, screenwriter and director. In 1996, his supporting role in the courtroom drama Primal Fear garnered him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. A year later, his lead role as a reformed white power skinhead in American History...
and
Marlon BrandoMarlon Brando, Jr. was an American actor whose body of work spanned over half a century. He was named the fourth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute, and part of Time magazine's Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century He is widely considered one of the...
.
It was the final film performance for Brando and the only time he and De Niro appeared in a film together (although they had previously portrayed the same character,
Vito CorleoneVito "Godfather" Andolini Corleone , is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather, as well as Francis Ford Coppola's trilogy of films based on it, where he was portrayed by Marlon Brando in The Godfather and by Robert De Niro in The Godfather Part II.-Character overview:In Puzo's...
, in
The GodfatherThe Godfather is a 1972 American drama film based on the novel of the same name by Mario Puzo and directed by Francis Ford Coppola from a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola, and Robert Towne . It stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Richard S...
and
The Godfather Part IIThe Godfather Part II is a 1974 American thriller film directed by Francis Ford Coppola from a script co-written with Mario Puzo...
, respectively).
The screenplay was based upon a story by Daniel E. Taylor and
EmmyThe Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards , Grammy Awards and Tony Awards .They are presented in various...
-winner Kario Salem.
Plot
In
MontrealMontreal is the second-largest city in Canada and the largest city in the province of Quebec. Originally called Ville-Marie , the city takes its present name from Mont-Royal, the triple-peaked hill located in the heart of the city, whose name was also initially given to the island on which the...
, a professional safe cracker who wants to retire, Nick Wells (De Niro), is persuaded to engage in one last heist by his friend Max (Brando), who plans the caper and recruits a younger thief, Jack Teller (Norton).
They intend to steal a priceless French scepter, once thought lost but rediscovered as it was brought into Canada illegally. However the job requires getting the artifact out of the heavily-guarded Customs House, where Teller has taken a maintenance job. In order to avoid suspicion, Teller pretends to be Brian, who is mentally challenged.
Nick intends to retire to spend more time with his girlfriend (
Angela BassettAngela Evelyn Bassett is an American actress. She has become well-known for her biographical film roles portraying real life women in African American culture, perhaps most prominently as singer Tina Turner in the motion picture What's Love Got to Do with It, as well as her portrayal of Michael...
) and run his jazz club full-time. But he knows that he is in danger of being apprehended by the law as well as being double-crossed by his untrustworthy partners.
Production
During the production, Brando repeatedly argued with Oz and called him "
Miss PiggyMiss Piggy is a Muppet character who was primarily played by Frank Oz on The Muppet Show. In 2001, Eric Jacobson began performing her, although Oz did not officially retire until 2002....
". Oz later blamed himself for the tension and cited his tendency to be confrontational rather than nurturing in response to Brando's acting style.
Most of the conversations between De Niro and Brando are
improvisedImprovisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...
. Norton later admitted he wasn't very fond of the script and only did the film to work with De Niro and Brando.
This film was Brando's final completed film before his death in 2004. Two years after his death, he appeared in the film
Superman ReturnsSuperman Returns is a 2006 superhero film based on the DC Comics character Superman. Directed by Bryan Singer, the film stars Brandon Routh as Superman, as well as Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey, James Marsden and Parker Posey. Superman Returns is a loose continuation of Superman and Superman II...
in archive footage as Superman's father
Jor-ElJor-El is a fictional character from the Superman comic books, published by DC Comics. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born artist Joe Shuster, he first appeared in Action Comics #1 as Superman's biological father....
, a role he played in the original 1978 film
Superman and in the 1980 sequel
Superman IISuperman II is the 1980 sequel to the 1978 superhero film Superman. It was the only Superman film to be filmed by two directors. For this reason the film is surrounded with controversy since original director Richard Donner had completed, by his estimation, roughly 75% of the movie in 1977 before...
.
Reception
The film received a mix of positive and critical reviews, due to some critics expecting more from a film with such a celebrated cast.
Peter TraversPeter Travers is an American film critic, who has written for, in turn, People and Rolling Stone. Travers also hosts a celebrity interview show called Popcorn on ABC News Now and ABCNews.com.-Career:...
, a film critic for
Rolling StoneRolling Stone is a United States-based magazine devoted to music, politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J. Gleason.The magazine was named after the 1948 Muddy Waters song of the same...
, pointed out that when "two Don Corleones team up", he expected "the kind of movie that makes people say, 'I'd pay to see these guys just read from the phone book.'" Instead, what he had to say about it was: "There's nothing you can't see coming in this flick, including the surprise ending. Quick, somebody get a phone book." However,
Roger EbertRoger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter.He is known for his film review column and for two television programs Sneak Previews and Siskel & Ebert at the Movies, which he co-hosted for a combined 23 years with Gene Siskel...
of the
Chicago Sun-TimesThe Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is owned by the Sun-Times Media Group, which filed for bankruptcy protection on March 31, 2009.-History:...
gave it three and a half stars out of four, calling it "the best pure heist movie in recent years."
Frank Oz on the DVD commentary defends the film as one in which he desired to take risks. Therefore, they started filming with an incomplete script and used several shooting methods that are usually frowned upon in the industry.
After a July 13, 2001 opening, the sixty-eight million dollar film earned a gross domestic box office take of $71,107,711. Combined with the foreign box-office, the worldwide total is $113,579,918.
Angela BassettAngela Evelyn Bassett is an American actress. She has become well-known for her biographical film roles portraying real life women in African American culture, perhaps most prominently as singer Tina Turner in the motion picture What's Love Got to Do with It, as well as her portrayal of Michael...
won a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for her portrayal of Wells' girlfriend, Diane.
The film received a rating of 74% fresh on rottentomatoes.com.