Film: Thief

Good job I started out a little early this evening, because when I got outside it was raining quite persistently, and I decided to go back and change into trousers. Still made it with several minutes to spare. Tonight, I went to the Prince Charles cinema to see Thief. The advantage of quite a late start was that the Tube was quite empty for once, heading into town - at least until we got to the centre, by which time, of course, I had a seat and it didn't matter.

I was lucky enough to pick up a paper when I got on the Tube, which I'd read something less than half of by the time I got off. Got my ticket at the cinema, and paid by debit card, having no cash on me. Well, was I surprised to hear there was a fee, even for a debit card! Note to self: have cash in future before coming here. And I left my paper on the counter and forgot about it. It was gone by the time I came out - bah humbug!

Anyway, I settled into my comfortable, reclining leather seat. I had noticed on the way in that there was only a handful of people there. Unsurprisingly, I guess - it's midweek and it's a long time since this film was popular. With such an empty cinema, it was ironic that a guy arrived to sit in front of me, one seat to the left. And that he was so tall that he blocked off a corner of the screen. He'd have had to be tall - the seats all have very high backs, and the screen is set very high to compensate. He'd have had to be tall to be seen over the top of his seat.. well, I discovered that, by shifting myself sideways, he blocked sufficiently less that it was too much trouble to move seats. And the seat was spacious enough for me to do that. So that was ok.

This film was directed by Michael Mann, and stars James Caan as a brilliant diamond thief, who dreams of the perfect life. Part of this dream includes the girl he fancies, played by Tuesday Weld. There's also the man who was like the father he never had, played by Willie Nelson, and his partner in crime, played by James Belushi. Robert Prosky plays the mob boss who wants to employ him.

Despite the thief's noble intentions, make no mistake - with Michael Mann, of Miami Vice fame, at the helm, this film was never going to be schmaltzy. The soundtrack is pure 80s electronic rock/pop, the action is frequent. But, oh my, this is an excellent film! I'm so glad I chose it over the other I might have seen - I'd have hated to miss this. The scene where the thief is trying to persuade this woman to marry him didn't do much for me, but by the end I was really rooting for this guy. Go seek it out..

Tomorrow night is looking like When the Dragon Swallowed the Sun, a documentary on Tibet. Mind you, given that there's also a panel discussion, I'd better keep an eye on availability. Last time I wanted to go to one of those, in this cinema, it had plenty of availability in the morning but was sold out by the time I got there. I'm taking an extended break in Ireland this weekend, not coming back until Wednesday evening, then off to Lille on Friday. In the one day remaining to me in London next week - Thursday - I'm off to a play. I was looking at Sweet Bird of Youth, but after reading a bad review on Time Out about Kim Cattrall's performance, I decided to give it a miss. Instead, I'm going local for a change - As Is, at the Finborough Theatre. Which, again, I can walk to.