AND TO FINISH OFF, SOME VINTAGE BRITISH FARE : "THE ITALIAN JOB"

Here we have before us two great British classics. Michael Cane is undoubtedly one of the best known and most liked British actors and The Italian Job has its own place among immortal British movies. I am not (in fact and in all fairness cannot) dispute the charisma of the young Michael Cane. And The Italian Job is no doubt a really funny movie, well worth a spin of a weekday evening – but I can’t really say I wasn’t disappointed. I mean, I expected more from this fella for some reason, possibly because of all the hype surrounding it…
So, a lot of you probably know “the score” but I’ll quickly run through it for those of you who don’t. Charlie Croker (Michael Cane) is a smooth-talking professional criminal. He is just out of jail and already onto the next big job. The idea is stealing four million dollars’ worth in gold while it is being transported through the crowded and congested streets of Turin. A lot of things seem to point to this being an impossible feat, not least because the mafia have got a hint of what the Brits are planning and have taken a personal affront to this daring stunt on their own turf. But Charlie, along with a little help from a randy computer expert Professor Peach (this character is first time I’ve heard Benny Hill speak!), the support of British crime-boss Mr. Bridger (Noel Coward !), three minis (appropriately colored red, white and blue), a couple of vans and a whole host of petty-criminals is determined to give it a shot. And get away with it.
Credit where it’s due, this film is one of the ones that is responsible for the birth of a whole host of hilarious heist movies, the modern and most successful incarnation being Ocean’s 11. And I was rather surprised to see that even this early ancestor was sure to involve the latest technology and computers. We have almost all probably watched the modern Ocean’s 11 and remember how highly computers figure in the film – here they have a place too. Admittedly, here the computers look more like walk-in freezers crossed with old magnetophones and the computer programs look like old and massive reels of film, but still. A nice touch. And of course there is the famous car-chase scene with the three minis and the Italian cops; now that one completely deserves its place in movie history, I’ve never seen anything like it! Michael Cane is dashing, funny and witty. There is a lot of witty repartee and word-play, common to British humor; the only problem you WILL have is if you do not like British humor… But I love it, so am biased.
I have to say however that; first and foremost this NOT the most original plot in the world. Benny Hill is a nice touch, but it’s classic, typical Benny Hill, just with a soundtrack. And I love Benny Hill, but in a film that bases itself on rather cool British humor I think he was a tad out of place. I don’t know, like spaghetti in chocolate sauce – nice in their own rights and separate, slightly “icky” when they come together. Another thing is, the whole film leaves a lot of loose threads at the end, and I don’t just mean the “cliff-hanger” ending, the whole darn thing is untidy – I thought so anyway. You just have to “suspend belief”, accept “that’s the way it is in the film” and get along with it. It just doesn’t bare too much scrutiny. So just don’t scrutinize it (with me it has become a professional hazard) just sit back and enjoy, and you should be ok. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.