- Frank is an ex-con. We know that from the moment we meet him. He's twitchy and tense, and he walks around with a Chicago-sized chip on his shoulder. In the middle of a heated public argument with his eternally patient girlfriend Jessie (Tuesday Weld), Frank flashes a gun at an interloping bartender (William Petersen) like it's no big deal. He then drags Jessie out of the bar and into his car, punching a hapless passerby in the process just before almost running him over. Later on, Frank gets some bad news at a hospital concerning his lifelong friend Okla (Willie Nelson), and we worry for a moment that he might slug the doctor. In an interview with an adoption agent, Frank nearly starts a brawl when she notes that ex-cons are usually disfavored as adoptive parents. How she didn't realize sooner that Frank had been in prison is beyond me.
- But lest you get the wrong impression, there's more to Frank than his Sonny Corleone-style hotheaded tantrums. Frank is also a skilled professional who happens to be very good at his job. And, despite appearances, his real job has nothing to do with selling used cars. In Thief's virtuoso opening sequence, we discover that Frank is, first and foremost, a talented jewel thief. He's the sort who tosses away the traceable cut diamonds that would be risky to fence and focuses exclusively on the uncut stones. He wields a magnetic drill that slices through the lock of an imposing safe like it's made of cardboard. He has a cohort (James Belushi) outside who monitors the utility lines to make sure there isn't a silent alarm. In most films, this excellent opening scene, complete with its rain-soaked urban midnight look and pulsing Tangerine Dream soundtrack, would easily be the best heist in the film. In Thief, it's a distant second.
- The best heist scene, certainly also one of the best in film history, arrives later on, when Frank finds himself reluctantly contracting for an oily operator named Leo (Robert Prosky). Leo points Frank and his crew to a Los Angeles bank that takes its security very seriously indeed. A rooftop entry is required, but the real challenge is a custom-made safe with a drill-proof hidden lock. But who needs to crack a safe when you can just burn through it? At this point, you would probably assume that director Michael Mann employed special effects to recreate the impression of a white-hot bar of highly exothermic metal melting its way through a safe door. No way. It's a real oxy-lance torch, and that's really James Caan holding it. Presumably the fire extinguishers are also real, considering how dangerous that scene must have been to film. But ultimately, the crew gets out with the diamonds, Frank and Jessie are happy, Leo is thrilled, and things couldn't be better. How long do you think that's going to last?
- As Frank's world begins to turn upside down (quite literally in one devastating scene), he reacts with a "scorched earth policy" that doubles as one of the more stunning cinematic displays of nihilism I've ever seen. Like so many anti-heroes, maybe Frank never stood a chance in a world where the justice system thrives on not-so-subtle bribes ("Are they picking their noses up there?"), sleazy cops like Urizzi (John Santucci) are on the take, and skilled thieves struggle under the thumbs of insidious managers and their sketchy associates (Tom Signorelli and Dennis Farina). Just as the film's early crane shot descended to the mortal plane, the film's concluding shot rises back up to the heavens, having lingered just long enough to witness one man getting completely wiped out. Frank has finally become nothing, the epitome of his simple jailhouse philosophy. The film he's in, however, is far from nothing. With outstanding performances by Caan, Prosky, and Weld, Donald E. Thorin's memorable Windy City cinematography, and its terrific electronic soundtrack, Thief established Mann as a director who would excel at examining both how men work and how they get worked over. It's a tragic and beautiful neo-noir, a terrific heist film, and a wonderful introduction to its director's unique ethos all-in-one.
- Contains the film debuts of: James Belushi, Robert Prosky, William Petersen, and Dennis Farina.
