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The Score film review
THE SCORE
Running time: 122 mins
Starring: Robert De Niro, Edward Norton, Marlon Brando, Angela Bassett
It would only require changing one letter in the film's title to turn it into an apt description of this laboured and generic heist flick. Given the film's iconic cast, it seems bewildering that all three stars would choose such an indifferent and routine project on which to combine their prodigious talents.
Having established his name directing more whimsical material like Bowfinger and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Score marks director Frank Oz's debut in the field of serious drama. On this evidence, he might be better served sticking to comedy. The Score rarely gets out of first gear, providing little in the way of surprises and intrigue as it trudges wearily towards its inevitable conclusion.
Rumours abounded of a feud between Brando and the director, who Brando referred to as Miss Piggy because of his long association with The Muppets. It seems an ironic slight considering that it is Brando who is the living contradiction of the expression, 'No man is an island'. In the past it was Brando's enormous presence that filled the screen, now sadly it's his girth. What few moments of genius he is still able to exhibit are offset by the sad realisation of what he has become: a wheezing, gargantuan parody.
De Niro plays the consummate and cautious safecracker Nick who runs an upscale lounge bar in Montreal. Involved with the flight attendant Diane (Angela Bassett), he is contemplating quitting his illicit activities and settling down when the flamboyant Max (Marlon Brando) offers him a big job that would provide him with financial security and the prospect of living happily ever after. His initial reluctance to accept is fuelled by the fact that it would require stealing a priceless antique sceptre from the Montreal Customs House, thus going against his long held vow of never working on his own patch. Also Nick, accustomed to working alone, would have to team up with Max's connection at the Customs House, the brash and cocksure Jack (Edward Norton), who is the aspiring heir apparent to Nick's safecracking crown.
What few highlights there are involve watching the interplay between Brando, De Niro and Norton. Of the three though, it is the junior Norton who emerges with the most praise, with Brando hamming it up while De Niro simply went through the motions. Norton is rapidly becoming the most compelling and adventurous actor of his generation. As Jack he adopts the role of the mentally and physically handicapped David and secures a job as a janitor at the Customs House in order to gain inside information for the heist. Norton's depiction of the retarded David is un-eerily convincing, relying more on honesty than the gimmicks and extravagances employed by Hoffman in his portrayal of the afflicted Raymond in Rain Man.
The score itself, when it finally happened, lacked suspense or drama, being filmed so tightly and darkly that it was often difficult to figure out exactly what was happening. And although the end provided the film with its best twist, by that time it was a case of too little too late.
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