Episode 47: The Italian Job (1969)
JUSTIN:
I know there were remakes before 2003’s THE ITALIAN JOB, and there have certainly been remakes since. And while I’m not going to sit here and claim that Marky Mark and his funky punch of Ed Norton in a restaurant is the best remake ever (although I do think it should at least be considered), I am going to instead suggest, after now having seen this original version, that it’s exactly why remakes exist and can actually be a good thing.
The concept behind this movie is a great one. Charismatic James Bondian criminal gets out of prison and is half-asked, half-coerced to fulfill a now-dead former associate’s wish of pulling off the crime of the century via a traffic jam. You get fast cars, Italy, and Michael Caine in a number of assorted suits that look like they’ve been painted on. Done. Sign me up.
However, did they even consider creating characters with even the slightest bit of depth? Charlie is suave because he dresses nice, but his instructions and leadership style leave a whole lot to be desired. Mr. Bridger is quite confusing to read, as he’s supposed to be this intimidating crime boss pulling strings while inside of an albeit posh jail cell… and yet, most of his scenes are played for a laugh. And then there’s the cast of characters that Charlie uses to pull off the caper in Italy… did they have names? Outside of the goofy looking guy who liked plus-sized women, there’s not a single distinguishing characteristic from the lot of them, except of course the bus driver Big William, an aptly named large black man who sticks out quite prominently amongst the sea of Brits.
“But Justin,” you might say, “doesn’t the remake have Jason Statham as a character named Handsome Rob?” Yes, it does. But it also creates relationships and pasts between the team and so then the accomplices become more than just a partially deaf Mos Def or Seth Green thinking he actually invented Napster. There’s actual pay-off for the characters because of the drama written into the script about Donald Sutherland’s Mr. Bridger being Charlize Theron’s father and the payback the group is trying to get on the back-stabbing Ed Norton. Plus, they actually show the team prepping for the job! What a novel concept! In the end, it’s not like they made some complex or deep dramatic thing - they just added some depth to an already flashy and fun movie, making it really just everything that I wanted the original to be… and it’s just not.
I respect the 1969 film for its camera tricks and cinematography, namely during that aforementioned car chase. I mean, there’s a reason F. Gary Gray copied a couple of the shots directly in the remake! But when you put them next to each other, there’s really no question which one I’m taking, no matter how good SIR Michael Caine looks in a suit.
