neumu [ cinematronic ]




	The Good Thief
	Neil Jordan Nick Nolte, Tcheky Karyo, Said Taghmaoui, Nutsa Kukhianidze, Gerard Darmon, Mark Polish, Mike Polish, Ralph Fiennes 2002		With "The Good Thief," Neil Jordan shows fellow director Jonathan Demme how to properly update a classic film, and Nick Nolte gets a chance to show his acting range, rugged to tender to crafty, in a vivid part. Demme's remake of "Charade," titled "The Truth About Charlie," was strident, flimsy and miscast. (Mark Wahlberg in the Cary Grant role? Please.) Jordan modernizes the influential, so-cool 1955 French gangster noir "Bob le Flambeur" as "The Good Thief," changing aspects of the original without losing its essence. Like the movie that inspired it, "The Good Thief" tells of an aging, retired thief who's backed into one last, big heist involving a casino. The setting is moved from Paris in the '50s to Nice, now a potpourri of locals, North African immigrants, Eurotrash opportunists and tourists. Bob is no longer a weary, courtly Parisian gambler; Nolte's Bob is a bedraggled yet noble American expat/heroin addict. And the caper in "The Good Thief," set to a funky world-beat score, is more complex than the '55 model and climaxes a colorful cruise through the Riviera underworld. With Tcheky Karyo as a Bob's friendly nemesis on the police force, plus a cameo by Ralph Fiennes.