The Italian Job (2003 film)
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The Italian Job is a 2003 action-adventure film, directed by F. Gary Gray. This film stars Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, and Donald Sutherland. This is a loose remake of the original 1969 classic film The Italian Job starring Michael Caine.
Plot summary
The film opens in Venice, Italy with the "leader" John Bridger (Donald Sutherland) on the phone giving his daughter Stella (Charlize Theron) the "this is my last job" speech. John then meets up with the "planner" Charlie (Mark Wahlberg) to discuss the job. Both John and Charlie are good friends, and the two have a great amount of respect for each other.The two plan and execute a well crafted and swiftly executed robbery, involving the heist of gold bars. During this sequence, the rest of the ensemble comes into the fold. Steve (Edward Norton) is the "inside man", Handsome Rob (Jason Statham) is a very proficient "wheel man". Left Ear (Mos Def) is the explosives expert and Lyle (Seth Green) is the technical expert. The heist is a success and the celebrating begins, but the euphoria doesn't last long. A traitor among the group (Steve) has his own plans, and doesn't waste time seizing the gold, killing Bridger, and leaving the rest of the team for dead.
The film continues back in the United States, with Stella (Charlize Theron) using her expertise to break into vaults, for legitimate reasons. Charlie recruits Stella, since she has the required expertise and motivation to participate in the payback heist. Once Stella agrees to join the team, the heist begins.
The last half of the film takes place in Los Angeles, California, and involves the payback heist. The actual heist at the end of the film is a chase sequence, involving a major traffic jam and the use of MINI Coopers.
Cast
- Mark Wahlberg as Charlie Croker
- Charlize Theron as Stella Bridger
- Donald Sutherland as John Bridger
- Jason Statham as Handsome Rob
- Seth Green as Lyle, or, "The Real Napster"
- Mos Def as Left Ear
- Edward Norton as Steve Frazelli
- Franky G as Wrench
Trivia
- James Bond screenwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade wrote the first draft of the screenplay, a fairly faithful translation of the original with a prologue set in World War Two in which Charlie Croker's father tries and fails to recover the gold (tying the film in with Troy Kennedy Martin's other heist film Kelly's Heroes). A new story was commissioned from writing team the Powers that relocated the action to L.A.. Early posters and the trailer still credited Purvis and Wade as co-writers.
- Edward Norton has made it clear that his participation is a result of contractual obligation, not choice. After making his film debut in Paramount's Primal Fear - for which he was paid $60, 000 - Norton accepted an offer from the studio of a million dollars for his next movie. Seven years later, he was a big star but had still not made that film for Paramount. The studio offered him the supporting role in The Italian Job for $1 million, at a time when his usual salary was $8 million, and Norton reluctantly accepted.
- While the thieves are spying on Steve Frezelli in his home, Michael Caine is seen on the large screen television in a clip from the film Alfie from 1966.
- Lyle (Seth Green) claims he was the creator of Napster, and that his roommate Shawn Fanning stole it from him. It shows a flash back of Lyle napping, and a person taking a disk out of the PC that has Napster on it; this is Shawn Fanning, the creator of Napster, making a cameo as himself.
- When Shawn Fanning steals the idea of Napster, the bottom of a Metallica poster can be seen on the wall. Metallica was one of the bands that brought about the end of Napster as a free file-sharing service.
- Two electric-powered MINI Coopers, and one MINI Cooper'S works had to be specially built for the film, since gasoline-powered vehicles are not allowed to operate in the Los Angeles subway system.
- The red Mini Cooper driven by Stella at the beginning of the film is a nod to the Mini Coopers from the original The Italian Job.
- Director F. Gary Gray was unsatisfied with the film's box office performance on its first run and had it re-released in theaters in late August 2003.
- In addition to the stunt driving course received, Jason Statham got two days' driving tuition from Damon Hill, the British ex-world champion Formula 1 driver.
- 32 MINI Coopers were used throughout the shooting.
- The production shut down Hollywood Boulevard and Highland for seven days for the shooting. This was the first time in cinematic history according to director F. Gary Gray.
- The NetCom Cable van shows the phone number 1-800-555-0199. This is the same number that Al Pacino in The Insider (1999) and Kevin Spacey in American Beauty (1999) have.
- Paramount's Kings Island (Cincinnati, OH) and Paramount Canada's Wonderland (Toronto, ON) opened The Italian Job: Stunt Track attraction in May 2005. Paramount's Kings Dominion (Doswell, VA) added the ride in summer 2006. The ride is based on the chase sequence of the 2003 film. The ride is a heavily themed rollercoaster, in which the coaster trains are scaled MINI Cooper S Convertible models.
- Originally the getaway was a much longer sequence in which a bullet-wounded Handsome Rob reluctantly hands over the driving to Left Ear, despite the fact that he can't drive “stick”. After narrowly avoiding pedestrians at the Staples Center, getting stuck in traffic in Downtown L.A. and driving into a shop window, Rob takes over the driving. Some footage from this sequence appear as deleted scenes on the DVD release.
- SPOILER: After stealing the gold back from Steve, Handsome Rob purchases an Aston Martin DB7 Volante. In the original film, Charlie Croker picks up an Aston Martin DB4 convertible from a parking garage after his release from prison.
- In the scene where the explosives are set off under the street, a man in a Spider-Man suit can briefly be seen fleeing from the explosion.
- The White MINI is actually a 'Pepper White' car with a pure white roof - this is not a colour combination that is made for the MINI. The 'Chili Red' and 'Indy Blue' MINI's both have black door mirrors and white roofs. In reality, MINI's come with door mirrors that match the roof colour.
- The principal actors in the movie did most of the stunt driving themselves. Whilst all of the principals needed stunt driving lessons - amazingly, Mos Def needed a little more work because he didn't have a driving licence at the outset of the production.
- A frequently asked question is whether three MINI Coopers could actually carry that much gold. Twenty seven million dollars ($27,000,000) worth of gold at 2003 prices would weigh over 2,000 kg (4,400 lbs). Divided evenly between the three MINI's, that would mean that each car would be carrying more than half its own weight in gold. Whilst the movie makes clear that the MINIs had stiffer suspension installed and were modified to save weight, the payload of a stock MINI Cooper is just 355 kg (excluding fuel and driver) so with 666 kg of gold bars and a passenger, the MINIs would have been seriously overloaded.
See also
- The Italian Job - The original 1969 classic.
- The Brazilian Job - The sequel to the 2003 remake.
- List of movies in which Mini cars are featured
External links
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