Bobby De Niro
- still searching for decent dialogue
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Big actors
means a big movie. Don't you believe it.
Nigel
Bell
What a disappointment. The trailers to The Score promise
so much yet the actual film delivers little, other than predictability.
With three generations
of leading Hollywood actor - Brando, De Niro and Norton - you'd
expect much more.
If it's any
consolation, the film ends better than it begins.
Indeed at the
start the script is so rotten Brando and De Niro almost seem to
be holding back the laughter. "We're being paid to say this
rubbish."
The story is
your basic heist plot. Nick Wells (De Niro) is a world weary safecracker,
careful to only do jobs away from his home turf of Montreal.
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| There's
a decent film here somewhere, I've just got to pull it out |
But when Brando
suggests a big pay-day on his doorstep, the usually calculating
Wells is persuaded to play ball and team up with hotshot Jack, who's
cased the local customs house thanks to his acting skills as mentally
disabled Brian.
Simple enough,
but it takes an eternity to actually get to the point of the pair
carrying out the raid for a jewel encrusted French coronation sceptre.
The robbery
is actually well staged but you've telegraphed the twist in the
tale from the moment you bought your cinema ticket.
Apart from the
actual robbery, there's one other significant scene where our anti-heroes
are obtaining security codes from dubious employees in the middle
of a public park.
Oh and Montreal
comes across as a nice place to visit.
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| What are
yer complaining about. You can hear what I say can't you? |
Other than that
this film is slow in the extreme (it could have been trimmed by
at least 30 minutes), for something that should exude tension, there's
hardly any and worst of all, the majority of the characters are
surplus to requirements.
Angela Bassett
plays De Niro's love interest. She is a token woman and has no bearing
on the plot.
Even Brando
is superfluous as the fence. He adds little, other than to twist
De Niro's arm into carrying out the crime.
No, The Score
is based centrally around De Niro vs the Edward Norton character.
The pair act well with Norton stealing the honours.
Director Frank
Oz is well known from his association with the Muppets. As Waldorf
and Statler might have said "What was the best part of the
film?" "The closing credits." Cue applause and laughter.
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