The Score (film)
| The Score | |
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 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Frank Oz |
| Produced by | Gary Foster Lee Rich |
| Written by | Scott Marshall Smith, Daniel E. Taylor, Kario Salem |
| Starring | Robert De Niro Edward Norton Marlon Brando Angela Bassett |
| Music by | Howard Shore |
| Cinematography | Rob Hahn |
| Editing by | Richard Pearson |
| Studio | Mandalay Pictures |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 13 July 2001 |
| Running time | 124 minutes |
| Language | English French |
| Budget | $68,000,000 |
| Box office | $113,579,918 |
The Score is a 2001 crime thriller directed by Frank Oz and starring Robert De Niro, Edward Norton, Angela Bassett and Marlon Brando in his final film role.
It was the only time Brando and De Niro appeared in a film together (although they had previously portrayed the same character, Vito Corleone, in The Godfather and The Godfather Part II respectively, for which they had both won Academy Awards).
The screenplay was based upon a story by Daniel E. Taylor and Emmy-winner Kario Salem.
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[edit] Plot
After nearly being caught on a routine burglary, master safe-cracker Nick Wells (Robert De Niro) decides the time has finally come to retire from his illegal activities and focus on running his jazz club. Nick's flight attendant girlfriend, Diane (Angela Bassett), encourages this decision, promising to fully commit to their relationship if he does indeed go straight. Nick, however, is lured into taking one final score by his fence Max (Marlon Brando). The job, worth a $4 million pay off to Nick, is to steal a valuable French scepter, which was being smuggled illegally into the United States through Canada but was accidentally discovered and detained at the Montréal Customs House.
Max introduces Nick to Jack Teller (Edward Norton), an ambitious, albeit foolhardy, thief who has infiltrated the Custom's House and gained access to information regarding the security by pretending to be an intellectually disabled janitor named Brian. Nick hires his associate Steven (Jamie Harrold) to hack into the Custom Houses' security system to obtain the bypass codes allowing them to temporarily manipulate the alert protocols of the system during the heist. Steven is caught, however, by a corrupt system's administrator who extorts Nick for $50,000 for the information. More complications arise when they're forced to move up their time-table after the Custom's House becomes aware of the true value of the scepter and adds extra CCTV cameras to monitor it while they make preparations to return it to its rightful owners.
Nick uses a sewer system tunnel to enter the Customs House basement as Jack uses the bypass codes to rig the cameras to shut off while Nick sneaks into the storage room. Jack, pretending to be Brian, keeps the guards and other janitors occupied while Nick fills the enormous in-floor safe containing the scepter with water and inserts and then detonates a depth charge to blow off the door. He quickly packs up the scepter in a carrying case to depart, but Jack double crosses him and at gunpoint demands he hand over the scepter. Nick reluctantly gives up the carrying case and seconds later the alarm, rigged by Jack, alerts the entire compound to the heist. Nick darts for the sewer entrance he came in as Jack heads back upstairs, tucking the carrying case inside his janitor jumpsuit and slipping past the incoming police units responding to the burglary. Nick manages to elude the security guards chasing him through the sewer tunnels and escapes.
After making it to a bus station to flee the city, Jack calls Nick to gloat and is shocked to discover that Nick has in fact double crossed him by handing him a carrying case containing a fake scepter. Taunting Jack that "every cop in the city" is now looking for him, Nick hangs up and boards a boat with the real scepter as a shocked Jack broods over his situation. Later, Max smiles as he watches a news broadcast reporting a massive manhunt being organized to find Jack, the prime suspect, and an "unknown" accomplice. Nick then meets Diane at the airport as she returns from work, and she happily accepts a kiss and hug from him.
[edit] Cast
- Robert De Niro as Nick Wells; a veteran thief tempted by one last score to comfortably retire.
- Edward Norton as Jack Teller; the inside man seeking to establish himself as a respected criminal.
- Marlon Brando as Max; the fence that puts together the job.
- Angela Bassett as Diane; Nick's flight attendant girlfriend.
- Gary Farmer as Burt; Nick's loyal associate who serves as security.
- Jamie Harrold as Steven; a computer hacker that obtains the security codes for the score.
- Richard Waugh as Sapperstien; the system's administrator for IronClad Security.
- Jean-René Ouellet as André; head of security.
[edit] Production
During the production, Brando repeatedly argued with Oz and called him "Miss Piggy".[1] Oz later blamed himself for the tension and cited his tendency to be confrontational rather than nurturing in response to Brando's acting style.[2]
Most of the conversations between De Niro and Brando are improvised.[citation needed] Norton later admitted he wasn't very fond of the script and only did the film to work with De Niro and Brando, stating that he would have loved a script that "had three characters reading from the Montreal phone book, if the other two actors were Brando and DeNiro". [3] This film was Brando's final completed film before his death in 2004. Two years after his death, he appeared in the film Superman Returns in archive footage as Superman's father Jor-El, a role he played in the original 1978 film Superman and in the 1980 sequel Superman II.
Since the movie was shot in Montréal, some of the cast included many french Canadian actors, such as : Martin Drainville, Serge Houde and Claude Despins who played a security guard at the customs house, De Niro's character's club host/greeter and the club's bartender, respectively.
[edit] Box office
In its first opening weekend, the film opened at #2 in the U.S. Box office raking in $19,018,807 USD, behind Legally Blonde.
[edit] Reception
The film received generally positive reviews with a rating of 73% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 128 reviews with a rating average of 6.5/10.[4] Peter Travers, a film critic for Rolling Stone, 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.'"[5] 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', apparently in reference to Norton's comment in an earlier interview about working with his two idols. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it three and a half stars out of four, calling it "the best pure heist movie in recent years."[6]
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.[clarification needed]
After a July 13, 2001 opening, the $68 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.[7]
Angela Bassett won a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for her portrayal of Wells' girlfriend, Diane.
[edit] References
- ^ Cagle, Jess. "How To Make A Score", Time Magazine June 16, 2001.
- ^ Capone. Capone With Frank Oz About DEATH AT A FUNERAL, What Went Wrong On STEPFORD, And (Of Course) Yoda!!, Aintitcool.com August 7, 2007.
- ^ Interview promoting the film
- ^ The Score: Rotten Tomatoes
- ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/review.asp?mid=2042778&afl=imdb
- ^ http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20010713/REVIEWS/107130305/1023
- ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=score.htm
[edit] External links
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