All-Star Heist Action... "The Art Of The Steal"

The Art of the Steal (2013)

Rated R for language

Starring Kurt Russell, Matt Dillon, Jay Baruchel, Kenneth Welsh, Chris Diamantopoulos, Katheryn Winnick, Jason Jones, Terence Stamp

Directed by Johnathan Sobol

The Story:

Crunch Calhoun (Russell) has finally gotten out of jail after his last art theft scam got him caught.  His half-brother Nicky (Dillon) comes to Crunch to try and pull off another heist, and hopes that the whole doing time in jail thing is water under the bridge.  They bring in Crunch's old crew and begin scheming to pull of their next heist.  However, hot on their trail is Interpol Agent Bick (Jones) and with him is convicted art thief Samuel Winter (Stamp) who can vouch for art being real or fake just by looking at it.  Is Crunch going back to prison, or is he going to get away with the biggest score of his life.

Yes indeed, a heist movie!  One of my favorite genres, and this, a direct to DVD offering with a pretty decent cast to it, so it must really suck, right?

Not so fast...

Indeed, the movie starts a little slow, but it's still interesting and keeps you connected to the characters.

Then it builds, and with the final act, you are treated to a payoff that you may, or may not, have seen coming.

And even if you did, it's quite doubtful that you thought of every plot piece that this movie works out perfectly.

That's what brings a "C" movie into the "B" range right there.

In fact, aside from the slow-ish start, once again I'll give the rant:

This movie is Rated R for language.  Which is overused throughout the film. 

Cut it back, widen your audience.

Then again, with one of the pieces of art in the film, and the joke that accompanies it, well, I can almost forgive the rating.

:)

All of the actors are great, and Kurt Russell plays the aging action hero to perfection.

However, the interplay between Jones and Stamp is downright hilarious every time they are on screen and bickering with each other.

Worth a look if you've never seen or heard of it.

Rumor has it, this film should be streaming on Netflix before the month of June is over.

** Update:  Now Streaming As of June 8th **

Final Grade: Solid B

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Would've gone for a B+ and put it on my Purchase list, but again, the language hampers replayability in a house full of kids.  I need family friendlier heist films like Fast 5 or The Italian Job.  But yes, I could certainly watch it again in the future.