Neil Jordan directed and wrote this heist flick, which looks to Jean-Pierre Melville’s “Bob le Flambeur” for inspiration. Jordan isn’t the first to do this – both versions of Ocean’s Eleven were also riffing on Melville’s theme. Like those films, “The Good Thief” is rife with snappy dialogue, stylish noir shots, and a plot that’s pure pulp.
Nick Nolte plays Bob, a rusty old junkie with a taste for fine art and every vice on this planet. He’s also a master burglar and liar, and he’s about to do his last big job on a casino in Monte Carlo. With his weathered features and rusty croak, Nolte looks like a man with one foot in the grave and nothing to lose. He single-handedly rescues this caper flick from its own mediocre storyline.
