Review of "The Italian Job" by

Its a fast-paced, old-fashioned, safe-cracking picture the kind that can be either gripping or dull as California governors. Mark Wahlberg plays a professional theif who specializes in planning breaking into banks. This time, the bank is in Venice, and Wahlberg brings in his old mentor, played by Donald Sutherland. The high-tech heist goes off without a hitch, but when the time comes to split the take, one of the gang pulls a double-cross resulting in a gun battle that ends with Sutherland dead and Wahlberg barely escaping. The gang splits up and Wahlberg ends up back in America, vowing to repay the man who killed his mentor and stole his money.

Several years later, Wahlberg locates the traitor, who has assumed a new identity and lives in Los Angeles in a gated mansion that contains a special safe where he keeps his money. Only a handful of people know how to break into this kind of safe, and one of them just happens to be Sutherland's daughter, played by Charlize Theron. At first, Theron refuses to even consider helping Wahlberg because she blames him for getting her father killed. But eventually, of course, she caves in and the game's afoot.

Its a cliche-ridden plot, but the script is actually quite good. Lots of little gags to keep things light, lots of high-tech gadgetry to keep you oohing and ah-ing, and, of course, there's the famous car chase using a small fleet of Mini's that this movie was so noted for when it came out in theaters. Its a winner, and certainly well worth a rental on a lazy fall evening.