The Score

It's that old crime cliche – one last job that will provide enough money to retire to a sunny tropical island. Or in this case, to run a jazz club.

Robert De Niro stars as Nick Wells, a professional criminal who decides to leave the crime business for good to live with his partner Diane (Angela Bassett) and run his Montreal Jazz Club, ‘NYC’. Max (Marlon Brando) is his good friend in the criminal world who provides Nick with this offer he can’t refuse. The Score: a priceless sceptre, discovered whilst being smuggled into the country, is now under strict surveillance in the Montreal Customs House, and will soon be returned to France. Luckily for Nick, Max has already positioned a man inside – the young and feisty Jackie Teller (Edward Norton), who has gained the trust of the security guards by playing a handicapped janitor, Brian.

The film then revolves around the contrasting De Niro and Norton characters – the old pro versus the cocky wannabe – as they set up and execute the heist itself.

There are excellent performances from all three male leads; a collection of the finest actors of their respective generations, and some wonderful dialogue sequences that provide the film with depth of character often missing from similar films. With great casting and acting, great scenery and photography, this is a film not to be missed!

John Doe