Strong cast wasted in mediocre crime drama lacks fun

Joko E.H. Anwar, Contributor, Jakarta

If you expect to see a highly-charged crime thriller in The Score due to its big name cast, you are likely to be disappointed. If you do not expect too much from the film, you are still likely to feel less than sated.

The film offers nothing you have not seen before without giving even a single new twist. Even the supposedly surprising ending cannot make up for the less than gripping plot it concludes.

All right, we have to give the film extra credit for its effort to try to give the audiences a pure heist film without involving fictional sophisticated gadgets.

While high-tech films like, say, Swordfish featured mindless robbery techniques involving an airborne bus, thieves in The Score use more realistic methods such as simple computer hacking and the obligatory explosive materials.

While the film's decision to go old-fashioned is admittedly refreshing to some level, it fails to give viewers some pure fun.

As for the plot, you will be left waiting for the film to surprise you with something which would distinguish it from countless similar movies.

However, the payback for sitting through the highly -forgettable show will never come.

De Niro plays professional thief Nick Wells whose career has been built on two strict principles: never piss on your own pool which in his case is Montreal, and always work alone.

His only accomplice is longtime friend Max (Marlon Brando) who acts to find buyers for the stolen goods.

Having everything he needs to live peacefully, including a loving fiancee Diane (Angela Basset), Nick plans to quit the profession.

However, Max needs him to do one last job, the biggest and the most difficult one he will ever pull.

Unfortunately, the job requires Nick to break his own rules. He has to steal something from his hometown and he has to work with a young accomplice Brian (Edward Norton) whom has never met.

Due to the urge to meet the challenge -- we all understand that -- Nick agrees to accept the mission and jeopardize his relationship with the woman he loves.

While he has to meticulously plan how they are going to pull the theft, he also has to watch his dubious new partner and also Max whose financial problems may make him willing to cross Nick.

Some people may be amused to see the two veteran actors on screen together but that is likely because of the memory of great films they have starred in.

Those who do not give a toss about the two stars' history will find the two characters pretty ordinary since the script does not give them much to do.

The real attraction here is Norton whose role in impersonating a handicapped person is reminiscent of Kevin Spacey's character in The Usual Suspects. Do not get excited yet since The Score is nowhere near as exciting.

Norton seems to be able to pull off any role, producing mesmerizing and highly distinctive characters.

He is a meek character in Primal Fear and The Fight Club but he is a believably brutal character in the hard-hitting film about racism in America, American History X.

Too bad, since the whole film does not live up to the quality of the performances.

The Score is by all means not a bad film. It is just plain mediocre.

The Score, **1/2 out of four stars; Crime/Thriller, 123 minutes; Starring Robert De Niro, Edward Norton, Marlon Brando, Angela Basset. Directed by Frank Oz; A Paramount Pictures/Mandalay; Pictures Presentation