Down on his luck architect Stephen Booker (a fine and sympathetic performance by Martin Sheen) gets a much-needed job by wily criminal mastermind Mike Daniels (a sturdy portrayal by Albert Finney) in which he assists Daniels and his crew in pulling off a daring bank heist.
Director John Quested relates the absorbing story at a steady pace, grounds the premise in a plausible workaday reality, and builds a good deal of tension. The smart and compact script by Jonathan Hale not only offers an interesting underlying theme about integrity versus necessity, but also does a neat job of presenting the criminals as a likeable bunch of regular guys who just happen to steal stuff for a living as well as keeps the narrative refreshingly simple and straightforward throughout. The sound acting by the capable cast keeps this movie humming: Susannah York as Stephen's concerned wife Dinah, Colin Blakely as Mike's no-nonsense partner Gardner, Jonathan Pryce as the antsy Godfrey, and Robert Morley as fed-up bank manager Godfrey. The heist is quite gripping and suspenseful. Both Michael Reed's crisp cinematography and Lalo Schifrin's moody score are up to speed. An on the money movie.
Director John Quested relates the absorbing story at a steady pace, grounds the premise in a plausible workaday reality, and builds a good deal of tension. The smart and compact script by Jonathan Hale not only offers an interesting underlying theme about integrity versus necessity, but also does a neat job of presenting the criminals as a likeable bunch of regular guys who just happen to steal stuff for a living as well as keeps the narrative refreshingly simple and straightforward throughout. The sound acting by the capable cast keeps this movie humming: Susannah York as Stephen's concerned wife Dinah, Colin Blakely as Mike's no-nonsense partner Gardner, Jonathan Pryce as the antsy Godfrey, and Robert Morley as fed-up bank manager Godfrey. The heist is quite gripping and suspenseful. Both Michael Reed's crisp cinematography and Lalo Schifrin's moody score are up to speed. An on the money movie.