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"Botched Heist" Movies C/D, S/D

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You know the drill: someone plans the Perfect Crime, but then Something Bad Happens and it all goes Horribly Wrong, as seen in:

Reservoir Dogs
Bottle Rocket
Boogie Nights (specifically, the last act, before Eddie/Dirk's return to porn)

Surely there are enough movies to make "Botched Heist" a subgenre of its own. What others can we come up with?

― Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Friday, 15 April 2005 13:30 (twenty years ago)

are there any heist movies where it all goes right? i'm not convinced.

'the score'
'le cercle rouge'
'they live by night'

― N_RQ, Friday, 15 April 2005 13:37 (twenty years ago)

Quick Change (but it all goes right in the end)

― Jarlr'mai (jarlrmai), Friday, 15 April 2005 13:37 (twenty years ago)

"botched heist movies" = "heist movies", to be honest.

The Killing, The Good Thief, The Italian Job (sort of)

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Friday, 15 April 2005 13:37 (twenty years ago)

Yeah where's the fun in a heist that goes exactly to plan?

― Jarlr'mai (jarlrmai), Friday, 15 April 2005 13:39 (twenty years ago)

Oceans 11 for unbotched-heist.

― Johnney B (Johnney B), Friday, 15 April 2005 13:41 (twenty years ago)

xposting w/ folks, but yeah, OTM re: "botched heist = heist".

- The Score [decent performances, meh story; DeNiro's character has a godlike apt AND a godlike jazz club, tho; I want to make love to his kitchen]
- The Italian Job [the Lethal Weapon of Botched Heist flicks; hello again to Mr. Edward Norton!] [actually, this isn't a Botched Heist flick so much as a Heist flick that's Botched]
- Out of Sight [ahhh yes a modern BH flick that doesn't involve computers & feats of strength; also, Steve Zahn]
- Ocean's Eleven [ahhh yes a BH flick that's actually not a BH flick]
- HEIST [derrrrr]

See also: the episode of Seinfeld where George's doll gets stolen & Kramer pretends to be a cop.

See also: Grace Kelly & Cary Grant?

― David R. (popshots75`), Friday, 15 April 2005 13:43 (twenty years ago)

- GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS [poor Shelly]

― David R. (popshots75`), Friday, 15 April 2005 13:44 (twenty years ago)

Heist flicks should be categorized by the level of larceny the culprits would be charged w/ were they caught. Glengarry Glen Ross might be petty theft, but The Italian Job would be Grand Theft Auto or something.

― David R. (popshots75`), Friday, 15 April 2005 13:46 (twenty years ago)

Oh fuck. There's this awesome movie with Steve Zahn and Sam Rockwell as two losers who have to break into some mob guy's house, and Paul Giamatti is the mob guy's nephew or something. I saw it in like 1999. It's not Good Good, but it's fun. Um...Safe Men, I think.

― Huk-L, Friday, 15 April 2005 13:47 (twenty years ago)

are there any heist movies where it all goes right? i'm not convinced.

Hang on, don't they get away with it in The Usual Suspects?

― Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Friday, 15 April 2005 13:47 (twenty years ago)

The Italian Job is strange like that, in that the actual heist goes off flawlessly. It seems borderline racist "These puny eye-ties are no match for the Best of British!"

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Friday, 15 April 2005 13:48 (twenty years ago)

Hang on, don't they get away with it in The Usual Suspects?

hmm. can't remember but i think only spacey walks away.

italian job double-racist: the bus driver is a very uncomfortably portrayed black man (no lines).

― N_RQ, Friday, 15 April 2005 13:49 (twenty years ago)

BOB LE FLAMBEUR!!!

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 15 April 2005 13:51 (twenty years ago)

Italian Job triple racist: the director is a black man! (I'm pretty sure, anyway - he also directed Be Cool.)

OTM re: Safe Men (though I say it is good good) - insults involving actresses from Charlie's Angels, flammable slacks, Little Big Fat, and JOEY MULLEN!

― David R. (popshots75`), Friday, 15 April 2005 13:52 (twenty years ago)

Killing Zoe.
The Hot Rock?

― Trip Maker (Sean Witzman), Friday, 15 April 2005 13:53 (twenty years ago)

HEAT.

And I've been meaning to ask, is its new special edition DVD worth the cop?

― Leeenge de Bruijn (Leee), Friday, 15 April 2005 13:54 (twenty years ago)

In The Usual Suspects - EVERYONE DIES! Except for Spacey.

The writer of that (Christopher McQuarrie?) wrote & directed a decent flick called Way of the Gun (hello Benicio Del Toro fans!) that was full of heistiness & bloodshed.

― David R. (popshots75`), Friday, 15 April 2005 13:54 (twenty years ago)

oh we are talking difft italian job versions. #1 has actual italians and the grinning black bus driver who fouls up. #2 was directed by f gary gray, who is black, and i can't say this one was quite as bad. because i haven't seen it.

― EN_RQ, Friday, 15 April 2005 13:55 (twenty years ago)

Bottle Rocket is classic.

― Ian Riese-Moraine. To Hell with you and your gradual evolution! (Eastern Mantra), Friday, 15 April 2005 13:55 (twenty years ago)

RIFIFI

― n_RQ, Friday, 15 April 2005 13:56 (twenty years ago)

did rififi go off okay in the end? I forget.

xpost!

― teeny (teeny), Friday, 15 April 2005 13:56 (twenty years ago)

Oh yeah yeah yeah - forgot that IJ was a remake. My bad.

The Limey is kind of a post-heist Botched Heist flick. I'm not sure if "drug deal goes down but gets perved by guy's GF" counts as a heist, tho.

― David R. (popshots75`), Friday, 15 April 2005 13:57 (twenty years ago)

Thanks, David R.
I haven't seen Safe Men in six years, so I was sorta hedging.

The original Thomas Crown Affair is pretty wonderful (haven't seen the Brosnan version), with hot young Yaphet Kotto action! But I think the heists go off pretty smoothly. You know what they say, "Lucky in larceny, unlucky in love."

xpost, score for the Limey!

― Huk-L, Friday, 15 April 2005 13:58 (twenty years ago)

oh yeah, heat, duh. what a great scene too.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 15 April 2005 13:59 (twenty years ago)

In The Usual Suspects - EVERYONE DIES! Except for Spacey.

Quite right, I'd completely forgotten.

― Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Friday, 15 April 2005 14:00 (twenty years ago)

All [dumbshit - Ed.] Bond & spy movies usually involve Botched Heists, too.

Speaking of Yaphet Kotto - Midnight Run (from the maker of Meet Joe Black and Gigli!!!) is also a post-heist Botched Heist flick (with the botchee getting nabbed by a bounty hunter while being chased by the crime syndicate he heisted and ANOTHER bounty hunter), & is one of my favorite movies.

― David R. (popshots75`), Friday, 15 April 2005 14:01 (twenty years ago)

BTW, when I added "dumbshit" to my last post, I was thinking primarily of Mission: Impossible.

― David R. (popshots75`), Friday, 15 April 2005 14:03 (twenty years ago)

OMG OFFICE SPACE!!!!!!!

― David R. (popshots75`), Friday, 15 April 2005 14:04 (twenty years ago)

If Office Space counts (and why not), the it surely follows that Superman 3 counts too!

― Huk-L, Friday, 15 April 2005 14:05 (twenty years ago)

hahaha, hell yes that's a heist flick

How may heist flicks are there where we never see the heist? I think Reservoir Dogs would count as a post-heist heist flick.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 15 April 2005 14:05 (twenty years ago)

But also a pre-heist heist flick.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 15 April 2005 14:06 (twenty years ago)

Oh, and speaking of Tarantino, how bout JACKIE BROWN?

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 15 April 2005 14:06 (twenty years ago)

Superman 3 was great, as it had Richard Pryor in a big foam cowboy hat, and video games.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 15 April 2005 14:06 (twenty years ago)

JAMES CAAN IS "THIEF"

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 15 April 2005 14:07 (twenty years ago)

The Han Solo-Jabba the Hutt subplot in the Star Wars movie is sorta post-botched heist.

― Huk-L, Friday, 15 April 2005 14:07 (twenty years ago)

"heist" is unbotched, but also ungood.

― g e o f f (gcannon), Friday, 15 April 2005 14:10 (twenty years ago)

post-heist heist films: all bow before From Dusk Till Dawn.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Friday, 15 April 2005 14:10 (twenty years ago)

xpost sorry if that's been said, but ctrl-f'ing "heist" is a bit pointless on this thread.

― g e o f f (gcannon), Friday, 15 April 2005 14:11 (twenty years ago)

I'd love to know about more heist flicks that don't involve modern technological boggins. No automated glass cutters, no 3D blueprints, no goddamn WiFi traffic light control. (If it involves Catherine Zeta-Jones slithering under laser beams, tho, I'll let it slide.)

Playing fast & loose w/ the definition of "heist" - the Bruce Willis portion of Pulp Fiction (where he's supposed to throw a fight, beats the crap out of the other boxer & makes off w/ lots of Ving Rhames' cash) could qualify.

Also - The Sting! Olde tyme bookie heistery!

[xpost]

I'm just ab/using "heist" in all my posts in the hopes that it'll magically transform into "scheiss", at which point I can giggle & point & say "doodie". (& boo on hating Heist!)

― David R. (popshots75`), Friday, 15 April 2005 14:15 (twenty years ago)

Heist is GREAT.

xpost

― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 15 April 2005 14:16 (twenty years ago)

wot??? no no no no rebecca pidgeon is fucking dire, the fakey oldtimey legbreaker lingo, the warmed over "examination" of masculinity and workman's competence, the totally inert staging and shooting, bleeuurgh

although danny devito calling RP a "HOOOR" isn't pretty great.

― g e o f f (gcannon), Friday, 15 April 2005 14:24 (twenty years ago)

i liked spanish prisoner though.

― g e o f f (gcannon), Friday, 15 April 2005 14:25 (twenty years ago)

IS pretty great, whoops.

― g e o f f (gcannon), Friday, 15 April 2005 14:26 (twenty years ago)

Oh yeah Rififi's the best. It does not go okay in the end though.

― Dan I. (Dan I.), Friday, 15 April 2005 14:30 (twenty years ago)

I've heard that Topkapi by the same director is also a good heist movie, but I don't know if it gets botched or not. I gotta see that one.

― Dan I. (Dan I.), Friday, 15 April 2005 14:33 (twenty years ago)

"Everbody needs money. That's why they call it MONEY."

― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 15 April 2005 14:39 (twenty years ago)

Rebecca Pidgeon may not be "good", but she's way better than in Spanish Prisoner. I unapologetically love the stilted Mamet dialogue and the triple-crosses and the way the actual heist is pulled off.

― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 15 April 2005 14:41 (twenty years ago)

I'd love to know about more heist flicks that don't involve modern technological boggins. No automated glass cutters, no 3D blueprints, no goddamn WiFi traffic light control.

The Italian Job features old-fashioned traffic light control using classic 1960s computers with big vacuum-column tape drives. And all programmed by Benny Hill!

How about The Ladykillers? Not much high technology in that, just lots of atmospheric Kings Cross back streets.

― caitlin (caitlin), Friday, 15 April 2005 14:42 (twenty years ago)

The Great Muppet Caper

― jocelyn (Jocelyn), Friday, 15 April 2005 14:43 (twenty years ago)

"Everbody needs money. That's why they call it MONEY."... yeah. What the fuck is with that line?

― Remy (x Jeremy), Friday, 15 April 2005 14:44 (twenty years ago)

xposts—she reads pretty well as a dork but as femme fatale i dunno.

i guess there's no real drastic difference between the two, just minor affective stuff like al bundy, the sino-texan fbi sniper punchline, etc.

― g e o f f (gcannon), Friday, 15 April 2005 14:45 (twenty years ago)

ok how about stealing the jewel from the temple of the snake in conan? that went off w/o a hitch. except for the snake.

― g e o f f (gcannon), Friday, 15 April 2005 14:47 (twenty years ago)

and they heist max von sydow's daughter at the end too!

― g e o f f (gcannon), Friday, 15 April 2005 14:49 (twenty years ago)

I love that MONEY line because it IS a "what the FUCK?" line, the perfect thing for a tough guy w/ a slight image problem to say to seem at once supertough and not so tough. It's the heist flick equivalent of a CEO employing lots of business speak in a meeting or address to sound like s/he knows what's what.

― David R. (popshots75`), Friday, 15 April 2005 14:49 (twenty years ago)

I've applied that line to lots of real life situations, in the manner of "Of course fried chicken is good, that's why they call it FRIED CHICKEN." It's inarguable.

― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 15 April 2005 14:51 (twenty years ago)

Some Euro botched heist flicks to search:

Grand Slam (great creepy Klaus Kinski performance)
The Sicilian Clan
Any Number Can Win (Both Alain Delon movies)
Topkapi (definitely botched.)

Will try to think of more.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Friday, 15 April 2005 14:57 (twenty years ago)

Also fuck Heat.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Friday, 15 April 2005 15:00 (twenty years ago)

That Heist line is classic, it's why I still want to see the movie.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Friday, 15 April 2005 15:02 (twenty years ago)

I can't stand David Mamet movies.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Friday, 15 April 2005 15:03 (twenty years ago)

All The President's Men

― TOMBOT, Friday, 15 April 2005 15:04 (twenty years ago)

That said Heist (which was pretty worthless) >>>>>>>>> Spartan (which was almost laughably bad.)

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Friday, 15 April 2005 15:05 (twenty years ago)

haha tom that gives me a great thread idea

― g e o f f (gcannon), Friday, 15 April 2005 15:05 (twenty years ago)

Heat is great in a lot of ways, but too damn long + too many subplots that are probably there to flesh out the leads – it all is tolerable the first time, but if like me you own it and have seen it 50+ times you eventually think that perhaps a trimming of the fat might have made for a better flick.

The Score was AWESOME!

― Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Friday, 15 April 2005 15:05 (twenty years ago)

As I've said on a couple of threads, Heat starts out strong enough (even though Pacino is pretty horrid as always) but really sells itself out completely in the end. Worst ending to an otherwise good film I can think of.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Friday, 15 April 2005 15:15 (twenty years ago)

Oceans 11 for unbotched-heist.

Um, see one original Oceans 11.

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Friday, 15 April 2005 15:18 (twenty years ago)

S: The Good Thief, The Getaway (McQueen/Peckinpah version)

― Gear! (can Jung shill it, Mu?) (Gear!), Friday, 15 April 2005 16:07 (twenty years ago)

S: Band of Outsiders, Blue Collar

― Doobie Keebler (Charles McCain), Friday, 15 April 2005 16:25 (twenty years ago)

A few more "Searches":

The Lavender Hill Mob
Point Blank
The "Crime Story" pilot

Pierrot Le Fou is another "post-heist' movie, if I'm correct in assuming that's why the mobster's are chasing Anna Karina's character (she made off with the take)

― Doobie Keebler (Charles McCain), Friday, 15 April 2005 16:58 (twenty years ago)

Danger: Diabolik!

― deet deet dah (natepatrin), Friday, 15 April 2005 16:59 (twenty years ago)

"Jackie Brown" is an un-botched heist movie.

― a banana (alanbanana), Friday, 15 April 2005 17:09 (twenty years ago)

Not for Samuel L. Jackson's team.

― David R. (popshots75`), Friday, 15 April 2005 17:12 (twenty years ago)

Point Break!

― Trip Maker (Sean Witzman), Friday, 15 April 2005 17:21 (twenty years ago)

In The Usual Suspects - EVERYONE DIES! Except for Spacey.

or nobody dies 'cos he just made the whole thing up? nice one.

― jed_ (jed), Friday, 15 April 2005 17:29 (twenty years ago)

In The Usual Suspects - EVERYONE DIES! Except for Spacey.

or nobody dies 'cos he just made the whole thing up? nice one.

Having had my memory of the film jogged by this thread: good question!

― Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Friday, 15 April 2005 17:31 (twenty years ago)

IIRC, at least Gabe Byrne dies for real, cause the cops find his charred remains.

― Doobie Keebler (Charles McCain), Friday, 15 April 2005 17:32 (twenty years ago)

Unless that wasn't Gabe Byrne! OMG

― David R. (popshots75`), Friday, 15 April 2005 17:40 (twenty years ago)

You got a point there.

― Doobie Keebler (Charles McCain), Friday, 15 April 2005 17:45 (twenty years ago)

Sexy Beast? (The heist is interrupted when an urn full of cremains is opened in the flooded vault, and they don't make off with all of the loot they might otherwise have gotten.)

― j.lu (j.lu), Friday, 15 April 2005 20:11 (twenty years ago)

i heart heist flix. the getaway is abs. one of my faves. but yeah, if we wanna bring in the peckinpah cannon next comes "the wild bunch" (and by implication "the great train robbery").

also i can't think of a single bogus subplot in "heat" -- that film is all about the characters.

i guess we're considering the "con" movie a totally seperate genre?

omg i almost forgot "dog day afternoon"!!

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Saturday, 16 April 2005 02:27 (twenty years ago)

S: Thunderbolt & Lightfoot

― Doobie Keebler (Charles McCain), Saturday, 16 April 2005 13:16 (twenty years ago)

Doobie OTM. I totally forgot about that movie, but its great.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Saturday, 16 April 2005 20:15 (twenty years ago)

three years pass...

Big Deal on Madonna Street made me laugh and laugh and laugh.

― Barack History Month (Oilyrags), Wednesday, 21 January 2009 01:29 (seventeen years ago)

seven years pass...

meh review of new John Hillcoat movie, but very sexy cast

http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/triple-9

― we can be heroes just for about 3.6 seconds (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 24 February 2016 21:04 (ten years ago)

before the devil knows you're dead surely fits in this category

― marcos, Wednesday, 24 February 2016 21:08 (ten years ago)

Charlie Varrick!

― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 24 February 2016 21:09 (ten years ago)

Rancho Deluxe

― "Damn the Taquitos" (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 24 February 2016 21:27 (ten years ago)

Anderson Tapes, ffs

― Raffi, Master of the Pan Flute (fake penthouse letters mcgee), Wednesday, 24 February 2016 21:34 (ten years ago)

Soderbergh is quitting movie retirement to make one:

http://deadline.com/2016/02/michael-shannon-channing-tatum-steven-soderbergh-logan-lucky-1201696312/

― ... (Eazy), Wednesday, 24 February 2016 22:44 (ten years ago)


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