Starring Alec Baldwin and Janeane Garofalo

Let's Do Some Carnage:

PLOT SYNOPSIS:

Meet Mackin, "The Thief", who is called upon to perform a heist in which the score is no less than food stamps. Mackin and his buddies pull off the heist easily, but Mackin finds himself caught by a pair of police detectives, who just happen to be crooked and are prepared to kill him. However, he kills them both and escapes. Alas, this causes things to snowball, with honest cop Petrone on the case. Mackin has much more to fear with crime boss Pointy Williams, who set the crooked cops on him, and wants the job finished. Plus Mackin's Italian mob employers are less than pleased with the publicized mayhem.  

JANEANES CHARACTER:

Yeah, it's just another Janeane cameo/bit part. Here, she's only onscreen for something like three minutes, and it's before the opening credits even roll! She plays Baldwin's ex, who he returns to pick up his hidden money. However, neither have intentions on sharing, and she's told it's held in an oil drum. He grabs it for real and takes off, leaving Janeane covered in oily water and no moolah. Funny little appearance, but pretty pointless. Pointless note: On the video cover here in New Zealand, it has Janeane's name listed THIRD, and under it in brackets, it lists Striking Distance as one of her credits. What the fuck?? hehe

MY REVIEW:

**1/2

Thick As Thieves is a very minor movie, considering it stars some big names (well, a former big name in De Mornays case), and I don't think it actually got a full theatrical release. It hasn't been reviewed by many, and I'm sure many Janeane fans have missed it. And you're not really missing much either. It's essentially just another "hip gangster" (as I've dubbed the genre) thriller...one of the endless stream of them that started filling video shelves following Pulp Fiction. And like the majority of those films, it has the typical elements: double crosses, shootouts, standoffs, bags of money, crooked cops, slick mob bosses and wacky, out-of-place dialogue. This one is at least at least avoids being pretentious and doesn't try to force it's coolness down the audience's throat. 

Baldwin is acceptable in the lead, although his role is one of the blandest of the film. Aside from caring for his sick dog, there's not much to him in the way of motivation of depth. Far better is the double header of Michael Jai White as Pointy and Andre Braugher as his second in command Dink. Pointy is the most entertaining character in the film...he's a brutal crime boss, but is obviously trying to be more classy and responsible. Among the nice touches to his character are talking about the safety values of his new car and being appalled when his girlfriend starts to eat during a pray before lunch. Braugher is one of the most gifted actors in the business, and also one of the most underrated. He won an Emmy for his work on Homicide: Life On The Street, which, in my opinion, was possibly the BEST ongoing dramatic performance I've ever seen on TV. His character here isn't deep, but Braugher makes him interesting through his subtle approach...he projects a lot of intelligence and calm no matter what the situation. The other key role is De Mornay, as the razor sharp cop. She does a fairly effective job, although the script doesn't really allow her to be a part of the story...more like an outsider looking in. The supporting cast is interesting, and it's always good to see Bruce Greenwood, a terrific actor.

Thick As Thieves has some good qualities for sure, but is just too familiar and too uninspired to be anything more than forgettable.

Verdict
Thick As Thieves is a cunningly conceived pastiche featuring a whole host of idiosyncratic characters, plenty of clever dialogue and central performances by two actors who are clearly having a ball.

VideoVista:

cast: Alec Baldwin, Rebecca De Mornay, Michael Jai White, and Andre Braugher

director: Scott Sanders

91 minutes (18) 2000
Alliance Atlantis VHS rental

RATING: 7/10
reviewed by Steven Hampton

An intriguing and engaging but ultimately shallow revenge drama, Thick As Thieves plays entirely too much like one of those interminable Elmore Leonard adaptations (it's actually based on a novel by Patrick Quinn) that have plagued our screens of late, and not one of the better ones, either.

Alec Baldwin is a professional thief who gets grassed to crooked cops by his onetime partners in crime after completing a job in Detroit. The narrative switches back and forth between Miami and Motown, where busy restaurateur Pointy Williams (played as style-obsessed black dude by Michael Jai White) is being investigated by homicide detective, Rebecca De Mornay, who's searching for the thief. 
   

With bloody trails left by desperate cop-killer Baldwin, and gangsters of questionable competence (including the excellent Andre Braugher from the TV series, Homicide), it eventually becomes clear that things will have to be settled 'the Chicago way.' Baldwin, though, is out for vengeance after goons shoot his beloved pet in an attack on his motel room.

What makes this work, in the few scenes that are watchable, anyway, is the agreeable attention to character. All have a quirk or two - Baldwin loves trad jazz, while the elderly mafia boss just wants to retire in peace - but these do tend to define their characters rather than simply being a part of what makes them individuals. And so we get the faintly ridiculous scenes of Baldwin cleaning his dog's teeth, and Baldwin finding tiny scratches (between tracks!) on vinyl albums just to save money at the record store.

Fine comic moments, sure, but these traits and others like them reduce the film to a series of funny sketches and bleed the main plot to death.