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The Score review
:. Director: Frank Oz
:. Starring: Robert De Niro, Edward Norton
:. Running Time: 2:04
:. Year: 2001
:. Country: USA
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With an evocative title and surprising cast, The Score took off, gaining in advance, to conquer an audience in need of mature films and cerebral interpretations. Though the performance of the Brando - DeNiro duet is certainly worth a trip to the cinema, it's not the case for a conventional scenario that is so stretched as to leave an unquestionable feeling of déjà-vu.
Robert DeNiro is Nick Wells, owner of a jazz club by day and high-class burglar by night. Marlon Brando plays Max Baron, his sleeping partner, who proposes a coup to him, the theft of a royal scepter that is in Montreal's customs house. To do this Nick, who always works solo and never in Montreal, will have to team up with a partner, Jackie (Edward Norton), who's been casing the place for weeks while working there as a retarded janitor. Nick finally accepts this last big job before permanent retirement (sound familiar?) and marriage to Diane (Angela Bassett). From there, the film follows the preparation of the theft in depth until its inevitable outcome.
In fact there's not a great a deal to say about a story that's been seen before and where the stereotypes abound. The script is secondary (voluntarily or not), to leave the lion's share to the actors. The problem is that actors of this caliber require material of consequence in order to really take flight. Who remembers Brando in The Island of Doctor Moreau or DeNiro in 15 Minutes? Though it's clear that the script from The Score is far from transcending them in the vein of Apocalypse Now or The Godfather, it nevertheless makes it possible to see good exchanges between the two actors. Especially enjoyable is the charming touch of madness in Brando facing a quietly forceful DeNiro. Brando steals the show as soon as he's onscreen, whether it's for funny or emotional scenes like their discussion in the swimming pool. Also regrettable is that the film and the director did not draw more advantages in their presence, as in the film Heat, for example. In the same genre, this artistic film and perfectly controlled direction succeeded in building the pressure until the awaited confrontation between DeNiro and Pacino. An obvious comparison since this film also had a third actor play the fashionable part of a crazy young wolf. The problem is that here the usually excellent Edward Norton tends to overdo it, perhaps sinning with desire to be at the level of his two partners. His interpretation of the retarded janitor Brian comprises of too many tics to be honest. Come to think of it, this kind of role is difficult, look at Benicio Del Toro's horrible interpretation in The Pledge.
Though the direction may be honest, it does without a doubt lack rhythm. Frank Oz (Little Shop of Horrors, In & Out), more skillful in comedy and perhaps better known as the voice of The Muppet's Miss Peggy and Star Wars'Yoda, lacks a certain breath in the story. He's more successful with precise events like the final scene or the emotional side of the characters. Still, there's a problem in how it's all put together. In his defense, to bring a not very original screenplay to the screen is not so easy. This is where a Michael Mann would have been needed behind the camera.
In spite its imperfections, The Score does not fail in its plans to provide a certain quality of entertainment.
Fred Thom
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