Flak Magazine: Review of The Score, 7-23-01

Do not see The Score if you revere Marlon Brando whatsoever; he's a clown in this movie. The rumors of overacting to tee off director Frank Oz were widespread and then refuted just before the movie opened. God, how much worse could it have been?

Brando plays Max, seller of stolen goods. The gaudy expounding on frivolous minutia that characterizes Max makes you wonder if he's ever going to kick his Island of Dr. Moreau eclecticism.

Do see The Score if you want another De Niro "dirty angel" performance a la Heat. His Nick is burning to get out of the heist business. Wells holds down a jazz club in Montreal and wants the quiet life with Diane, played by Angela Bassett.

De Niro's performance communicates his longing for normalcy so well that the movie doesn't need Bassett as the moral balance who tells him to quit jacking diamonds. And Diane isn't given enough of a romantic pull to validate her existence; every ultimatum she lays out for Nick is something you can read in De Niro's eyes in every other scene. Nick is played so well that his dialogue could be — and in some cases is — pared down to plot-motivating facts.

De Niro owns this role, in spades. He understands and inhabits Nick as fully as he did with his The Deer Hunter role of Michael, a silent man in a loud world. You had a feeling when Scott Marshall Smith — whose Men of Honor had a plumb role for De Niro — was brought on to doctor the script, the actor was positioning himself into a much better — and quieter — role.

Do not see The Score if want to see Edward Norton in something more than a one-dimensional role. When Max proposes a heist in the belly of the Montreal Customs House to Nick, Jackie (Norton) is his contact on the inside. Jackie got inside by playing a mentally handicapped third-shift janitor's assistant. Norton handles all the standard developmentally disabled affectations with aplomb, and the role itself is an obvious marriage of Norton's Aaron in Primal Fear and Worm in Rounders. Unfortunately, Jackie's persona is littered with nasal bellyaching and self-promotion. He must be good; after all, he's called in by one heist pro to work with another. We don't get to see those qualifications, though. All we get is scene after scene of hearing just how good he is … from him. It works if you prefer a balance to De Niro's subdued professionalism. Otherwise, Norton merely plays pissed off.

Do see The Score if you want a heist flick that doesn't stray from heist-flick conventions. Even the mandatory double-crossings and plot twists are included — remember, the tagline is "There are no partners in crime."

Do not see The Score if you are looking for a soulful movie. Your overriding impression will be that this is a movie of almosts. It's almost smooth and cool and jazzy, except they never really play up Nick's jazz club — it's a grace note they threw in and then forgot. The Score could have landed in a pocket of films that are well-liked because of their feel; remember Rounders, how the Christopher Young soundtrack and the underground scene veiled the movie with an aura of self-aware savvy? Remember the remake of The Thomas Crown Affair, whose jazz and swagger brought a smooth edge to a jagged, disappointing movie? The Score behaves more like an action movie, passing by every chance it has to be reflective or less superficial.

It's funny; with those movies today, the problem is that no one has good footing on the gas pedal. With this movie, it's the brake.

— Andy Stilp (andy.stilp at gmail dot com)