***/****
starring Nick Nolte, Tcheky Karyo, Said Taghmaoui, Nutsa Kukhianidze
written and directed by Neil Jordan
by Bill Chambers A loose remake of Jean-Pierre Melville's Bob le Flambeur (director Neil Jordan seems to have cast Tcheky Karyo for the way "Bob le flambeur" rolls off his tongue), The Good Thief is a minor-ish work from Jordan that benefits mightily, as most movies would, from Chris Menges's cinematography. Nolte inherits Roger Duchesne's role as Bob Montagne, an expert gambler and larcenist who in this film is hooked on heroin out of what appears to be sheer boredom. (A hilarious scene finds him stumbling on a Narcotics Anonymous meeting while fleeing pursuers and saying, "I'm Bob, and I'm an addict" in passing.) Drying out to come out of retirement, he agrees to lead a gang of novice thieves in the heist of a Monte Carlo casino; as in the original, even the police can't help but root for him. Nolte's role fits him like a glove: All late-middle-age wear-and-tear, he's not a man who is broken-down–he's someone who has lived. (The actor claims to have used heroin to get in touch with the role.) Melville's characters blossom under Jordan's revisionism and his plot has evolved aesthetically: here, Bob sets out to rob a casino not of its money but its paintings. There's always something to watch in The Good Thief, and that includes the ludicrously appealing Nutsa Kukhianidze as a 17-year-old prostitute Bob takes under his wing. It's a shame the only female presence in the film is such a shameless male-fantasy figure somewhat rag-dolled between powerful men, but Bob not taking advantage of her advances strikes a peculiarly chivalrous note that reflects well on the filmmakers. PROGRAM: GALAS
