Rent Thief (1981)

An uncompromising thriller in 1980s Chicago that will grip you - Thief review by Philip in Paradiso

This is a very good thriller in the tradition of the genre. Frank (James Caan) is surprisingly plausible as a highly professional jewel thief who wants to settle down in life after one last big 'score': his aim is to leave his trade and start a family. All seems to go according to plan, at first at any rate.

The movie combines moments of intense and violent action with dialogues. The characters feel real and complex. Frank is an unlikely hero: in some ways, he is not a particularly appealing individual, and he is prone to violence. The film also shows, in a vivid way, how the criminal underworld and organized crime work: no one works independently, and the 'fence' plays a crucial role in such a criminal ecosystem.

The music seemed intrusive and exceedingly loud at times but, apart from that, I thoroughly enjoyed the film, which I recommend.

I seriously think if you like 'gits' you'll really like this film.... - Thief review by Strovey

This is Michael Mann’s cinema film directorial debut and a good debut it is too. There is style in this movie and some great cinematography. In early scenes, the light playing across a bleak urban landscape, twinned with Tangerine Dream music put me very much in mind of the original Blade Runner. Clearly the story does not go anywhere near that territory but feels like a relative.

Here we are in more modern, for the seventies and eighties of course, tough-guy, criminal, noir. James Caan is very much front and centre and the late actor carries it with ease on his shoulders. He is very believable as the tough, hardworking, master criminal. His amour is Tuesday Weld, who is given a few meaningful scenes but is really there as a cinematic ‘reason’ rather than a deep, involving character and Jim (James) Belushi and virtually no-dialogue Hal Frank fill out Caan’s gang roster. They are all very much the definition of supporting cast. Caan’s casting, screen time, character and acting put them under a very big, dark, shadow.

Robert Prosky, at the time a renowned stage-actor, does square up to Caan in both his character and with acting chops in the film. Like Caan, he is entirely believable as the absolute scum-bag mob-boss.

The film is full of unlikable characters, I am sure, in this day and age, some will side with Caan’s character and some nice exposition in a café from Caan with Weld’s character does try to get us, the viewer, to understand how he turned out this way and how his intentions to be ‘normal’ are at odds with his previous life. But nevertheless ‘Frank’ is unpleasant, rude, prone to instant violence and threats if he does not get his way, and not someone most of us would spend ten minutes in the company of. Herein for me lies the problem, I did not like him and the world he was mixed up in was his own choice and trying to feel concerned for him or sympathise when he enrages the mob so much so it results in what happens at the end of the film means I could not care what happened to him. Even if he did want a child and family and loved Willie Nelson, his old mentor ‘Oakla’.

Is the film meant to show how the criminal world and corrupt police operated in Chicago at that time? Is it meant to give us some sympathy towards those men and women cornered into a life of crime due to circumstances? It all feels a little shallow for any of that. Perhaps a bit more development of situations or characters might have helped, I do not really know, but something felt missing, almost as if with a painting you were looking at you knew a colour was missing but could not figure out which one.

Caan, battling a long cocaine addiction at the time, gives his all and truly cannot be faulted. He is horrible though. Prosky is equally as good, Belushi and Weld are underused and the mob henchmen could have been cut-and-pasted from any film and as usual proved to be a bit crap at their jobs.

The music, locations, cinematography, and writing are up to the best standard and make this film worth watching, and even to have more viewings if you felt like it. For me, my only question would be what is the film really about and is it trying to say something or is it just bad-guy anti-hero entertainment and just that?