The last films in the careers of great actors are rarely those in which they play main roles. Not even Marlon Brando, the greatest actor in history of Hollywood, was an exception to this role. His last appearance was supporting role in The Score, 2001 heist film directed by Frank Oz.
The protagonist of the film actually played by another great actor. Robert De Niro stars as Nick Wells, expert safe cracker who recently begins to struggle with age and who barely avoided getting caught during his last job. After that he decided to bring his criminal career to an end and concluded that he had enough money to start jazz club in Montreal and more quiet life with air hostess Diane (played by Angela Bassett). His old friend and criminal associate Max (played by Brando), however, makes an offer he finds difficult to refuse – taking part in stealing priceless sceptre from Montreal Customs House. Although the job would allow Nick to spend the rest of life without any financial worry, he accepts very reluctantly for two reasons. The first is that the job is to take place in his own city of residence and another is that he has to work together with a partner. Jackie Teller (played by Edward Norton) is young criminal who has pretended to be mentally impaired in order to get job within Montreal Customs House and with it opportunity to reconnoitre the target and disable security systems. Nick with his safe cracking experience is still crucial man for the whole operation, but it remains a challenge even for someone with his level of expertise.
Script written by Kario Salem, Lem Dobbs and Scott Marshall Smith appears to be of much higher quality than average Hollywood examples of the same genre. The subject is treated very seriously, criminals are shown as dedicated professionals and the planning of the heist as intriguing as the heist itself, with cliches and implausibilities being brought to minimum. The Score also features truly impressive cast – instead of one, it has three stars, each representing different generations (Brando, De Niro, Norton). However, all those expecting masterpiece are going to be at least somewhat disappointed. The main reason is Frank Oz, director known mostly for his work in comedies who, for some unfathomable reasons, decided to treat the film with too much seriousness. By all accounts, there was more humour on the set than on the screen, thanks to Brando’s diva-like antics and practical jokes. Oz also appeared to show too much respect to the grand actors, as well as too much faithfulness to the script, making The Score overlong (and the subplot involving Nick’s girlfriend was quite unnecessary). The “surprise” plot twist at the end, although more plausible than in many other Hollywood films, also affects general impression for the worse. However, at the end of the day, The Score is professionally made and mostly entertaining film that can be recommended even to those viewers who aren’t interested in Hollywood icon’s swan song.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
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