The Score, 2001

The story was written by Daniel Taylor and Kario Salem. It's obvious that they were trying to create something so typical and familiar, to get the producers interested. "Oh, it's your typical guy trying to retire from stealing, and he does that last score with a young cracker-jack thief... but, we can have some neat technology, you know, spy stuff and all!"

This story had absolutely nothing we haven't seen before. Even the technology was borrowed from other films, from The Rock to Once a Thief.

Taylor has no background experience in film, and Kario has been an actor since the late 70's, mostly television. He helped write The Rat Pack for HBO in 1998, along with The Beast (another television show). Kario also helped with the screenplay, along with Lem Dobbs, who's most well known for his work on The Limey and Dark City. In retrospect (since I loved both of those films), I'm disappointed that Dobbs didn't have the opportunity to polish this film better. I couldn't even tell you where he might have injected some good in the story... it's that bad.

Scott Marshall Smith, who wrote Men of Honor, was probably one of those guys brought in to take a look at the script and make changes just for the sake of making changes. He did not help, either. He has another work coming out, called The Expendables, later this year which will be directed by Frank Marshall. We shall see.

After watching De Niro in Meet the Parents, I truly think his career is going downhill. He's chosing 'safe' roles that make him come out on top, not gritty roles that actually have an element of risk to them. I miss his good work. His new work, City by the Sea, stars him next to his own daughter, Drena. The man is turning into an acting Coppola, for god sake. He will also be in the 2002 release of Showtime, opposite Eddie Murphy. That, at the very least, has an interesting and original plot.

His work in this film was a combination of Midnight Run (one of my favorite all time movies) and Casino. His character was a recycled thief, someone we've seen in dozens of films, and was not interesting, to say the least. His characters dialog was taken from the side of a cereal box, it was so obvious. It's sad to see someone of his ability washing out with a more than predictable role.

I'm a huge fan of Ed Norton's work, from the beginning with Primal Fear, The People Vs. Larry Flint, Rounders, American History X and, of course, Fight Club. He's one distinct personality in recent years, far away from the bubble people coming off of television series like Dawsons Creek and the tons of other pathetic television shows out there. He has a singular voice in his roles, and has had the opportunity to take roles that are challenging and ones that will not typecast him. But this role... well, lets just say he was the best in the film, even though the film was terrible. He played his part well... but he shouldn't have been in the movie. I expect more from him.

Marlon Brando is the only person in the entire world who can now play The Kingpin, in the Marvel Comics book Daredevil. He's just huge. I could not believe the size of this man. This is his most recent work... his last being something called Free Money in 1998. His last real role was in The Island of Doctor Moreau in 1996. I have no idea why he chose to work on this project. I think he's a wasted talent in this film, and brought in just to add star power to the film. I think, in the back of their minds, the executives knew this story was a washout, and they tried to get big name talent into the film, paying them what they wanted, because they'd painted themselves in a corner.

The same thing can be said about Angela Bassett, who was completely wasted in her role. Jesus, you'd think that prominent actresses would make better decisions in their roles. Her role was useless as the love interest of De Niro's character. Bassett has made, in her earlier career, good decisions... and it was only after her role in Strange Days that her career started to go downhill. It took two years for her to get the role in Contact, How Stella Got Her Groove Back and Music of the Heart... then in 2000 she starred opposite James Spader in Supernova, another waste... and then this. In a smart move, Bassett is to star in the next John Sayles film Sunshine State. It will probably be the smartest move in her career. Let's hope it's a good film.

There is no one else worth mentioning in this film. The remaining actors are all background people, no-names who are there to dull down their performances for the four 'stars'.

Gary Foster, Adam Platnick, Lee Rich and Bernie Williams were the 'producers' on this film. Williams, Foster and Rich all have rather extensive producing backgrounds... I'm surprised they were roped into this film. It's sad to me that making money in Hollywood is strictly a matter of who's starring in what, nowadays. This film would have been better suited with no-names, on a smaller budget, and with smarter writing. I would have been hard pressed not to see a film of that ilk... but it's so rare that... well, it's just rare.

What in gods name is Frank Oz doing? What is he doing? Was this one of those "Well, Frank's been with the industry for so long, and he wants one last film with a big cast... you know, kind of like a going away present..."??? Jesus, I hope so. He should stick to doing the voice of Yoda, and that's it. His past work, granted, is good. He's got some decent directing under his belt... but he's not an 'action' director, for one. Two, you'd think he'd be smart enough to chose a better script. Unless this one was handed down to him, in a 'no choice' capacity... then he should have made some better decisions in his role as 'director', and made the film more original. Regardless, he failed in this film.

Everyone failed in this film. All around, this is the worst film I've seen all year, including A.I. At least A.I. made me angry. This just made me sad.