The best heist movies fuse elements of many different genres. They encompass a broad range of stories and filmmaking styles because they are so adaptable. As long as a team of characters is all working together to steal something, then it falls under the category of a heist movie. The genre isn’t restricted to any tone, time period, or particular style. Of course, the heist genre has more than its fair share of stereotypes, but the best filmmakers know how to use these to their benefit.
The heist genre has produced some of cinema’s most gripping thrillers and some of its funniest comedies. Violence features frequently, like in Snatch and Point Break, but it isn’t a necessity. Other movies use a heist as the perfect excuse to craft a slick mystery, with the criminals outsmarting their victims without them ever knowing they were there. Whichever approach a heist movie decides to take, some stand out above the competition.
25
The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
A Story Of Crime And Consequences
This classic heist movie tells the story of a man just released from prison desperate to make a little money with one job. He plans a heist that should only need three other people, but of course, has to use a middle-man to find them, and has to find himself a fence to sell the stolen goods to. As the roster of criminals involved grows, the likelihood of error and betrayal does as well.
That is exactly what happens here. Nearly everything that can go wrong with the heist in The Asphalt Jungle does. Alarms are set off, guards are encountered, team members are shot, there is a double-cross, and alibis cannot be trusted.
While the movie did not pull in outstanding numbers at the box office when it was released, it has gone on to be regarded as one of the foundational crime movies because of its frank examination of all of the potentially catastrophic consequences of a crime. It was even added to the National Film Registry in 2008.
24
Ocean’s Eight (2018)
An All-Female Heist
Oceans Eight is a sequel/spin-off from the Ocean’s Eleven franchise that follows the equally capable sister of master thief Danny Ocean. Fresh out of jail after being framed for art fraud by her former lover, Debbie enlists the help of her best friend and several other talented women to perform a massive heist of the Toussaint necklace, all while getting revenge. Assembling a crack team isn’t easy, but Debbie will pull it off in style.
- Release Date
-
June 8, 2018
- Runtime
-
111minutes
- Cast
-
Helena Bonham Carter
, Denisa Juhos
, Matt Damon
, Mindy Kaling
, Charlotte Kirk
, Cate Blanchett
, Rihanna
, Awkwafina
, Sarah Paulson
, Dakota Fanning
, Anne Hathaway
, Sandra Bullock - Director
-
Gary Ross
- Writers
-
Gary Ross
, Olivia Milch
When Ocean’s Eight was first announced, there were many fans of Ocean’s Eleven who did not understand the need for an all-female heist crew. The original movie, however, had an all-male crew, so why not do the opposite?
Led by Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett, Ocean’s Eight sees Sandy Ocean, cousin to Danny Ocean, fresh out of a prison stint. She gets a team together to pull off an impressive heist that doubles as a revenge scheme against the very man who put her in prison.
One of the best aspects of this movie is that Anne Hathaway, playing an actress, is initially one of the group’s marks, but ends up in on their scheme with them. It’s a delightful and unique way to change the game. The eclectic ensemble, which includes Awkwafina, Rihanna, and Mindy Kaling, is fantastic. Every single member of the cast has a chance to shine in a complicated heist plot that deserves its spot among the greats.
Related
All 5 Ocean’s Movies Ranked From Worst To Best
The Ocean’s movies epitomize the Hollywood heist movie genre. From Frank Sinatra to George Clooney to Sandra Bullock’s, we rank the 5 Ocean’s films.
23
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
The Most Tragic Of Heists
Set in the weeks leading up to Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story provides additional context for the Rebellion’s plan to destroy the Death Star. Rogue One follows Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) as she enlists the help of Rebel Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) to locate her father, Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen), after the Empire kidnaps him.
- Release Date
-
December 13, 2016
- Runtime
-
134 Minutes
- Director
-
Gareth Edwards
- Writers
-
Tony Gilroy
, Chris Weitz
The Star Wars franchise is not known for its heists. The franchise is instead known for epic space battles and complicated mythology. Rogue One, however, is a standalone movie in the franchise that asks the question of just how the plans for the Death Star ended up in Princess Leia’s hands.
The answer is that a ragtag group of rebels is put together to steal them right out from under the helmet of Darth Vader and the scientists working for him. The catch is that one of those rebels happens to be the daughter of one of those scientists, leading to a weighty emotional confrontation that gives the movie a bittersweet climax, as everyone realizes that stealing the plans is more important than any one life.
Rogue One is one of the emotionally affecting movies of the franchise. Despite the entire main cast of characters being created to appear in just this movie, the audience connected with them and many of them became fan favorites. The movie even got a prequel series in Andor on Disney+, following Diego Luna’s character before the events of the film.
Rogue One was nominated for two Academy Awards and won three Saturn Awards, including Best Science Fiction Film.
22
The Italian Job (1969)
One Of The Most Famous Car Chases On Screen
The Italian Job follows Charlie Croker, newly released from prison, as he takes over a daring heist in Turin, Italy. Utilizing Mini Coopers, Jaguars, and a bus, Charlie aims to outmaneuver the mafia, create a city-wide disruption, and make away with a substantial gold haul.
- Release Date
-
September 3, 1969
- Runtime
-
99 Minutes
- Cast
-
Michael Caine
, Noel Coward
, Benny Hill
, Raf Vallone
, Tony Beckley
, Rossano Brazzi
, Margaret Blye
, Irene Handl - Director
-
Peter Collinson
- Writers
-
Troy Kennedy Martin
It has since become a cult classic.
Like many heist movies, The Italian Job kicks off with one character newly released from prison and looking for the next chapter of their life. In this case, that chapter happens to be pulling off the last job of his recently killed friend – stealing gold bouillon in the middle of it being transported across Italy.
The film was remade in 2003 with Mark Wahlberg and Charlize Theron.
The British film stars Michael Caine as Charlie Croker, the criminal out for that one perfect score, and Caine’s performance in the movie has been widely praised. So has the car chase throughout Italy since it involved mini coopers rather than the usual sports cars. Many moments in the movie have been parodied and homaged in British cinema ever since, including the car chase sequence.
The movie was nominated for a Golden Globe following its release, but at the time, its popularity did not extend much beyond England. It has since become a cult classic.
21
To Catch A Thief (1955)
A Former Thief Must Catch His Copycat
Alfred Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief is a romantic mystery-thriller film released in 1956, based on the novel by David Dodge. A former jewel thief finds his legacy tarnished when an imposter dons his name and begins stealing from tourists – forcing him to come out of the shadows and clear his name.
- Release Date
-
August 3, 1955
- Runtime
-
106 Minutes
- Cast
-
Cary Grant
, Grace Kelly
, Jessie Royce Landis
, John Williams - Writers
-
John Michael Hayes
To Catch A Thief is not a typical heist movie in that the central character is not planning a heist to make themselves rich. Instead, Cary Grant is playing a former thief who is just looking to live his life when it turns out someone is stealing from the French Riviera the same way he would have before he hung up his gloves.
In order to clear his name, the former thief has to catch his copycat, which becomes much more complicated when people who know his true identity are thwarting his investigation at every turn and the police are after him. While he investigates, he also grows close to a young woman vacationing with her mother, played by the lovely Grace Kelly.
While this movie is made by Alfred Hitchcock, it does not have the same level of darkness as some of his other thrillers, making it a truly fun heist movie.
20
The Town (2010)
Ben Affleck Directs This Boston Crime Story
Directed by and starring Ben Affleck, The Town is a crime thriller detailing a robber developing romantic feelings for one of his victims after a robbery takes place. As these complicated feelings develop, the team makes plans to Rob Fenway Park. Aside from Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, Blake Lively, and Jeremy Renner also star in the movie.
- Release Date
-
September 17, 2010
- Runtime
-
125 minutes
Following his acclaimed directorial debut, Gone Baby Gone, Ben Affleck returned to the crime world of Boston for his next project. The Town is a gripping thriller starring Affleck as Doug, the leader of a band of local criminals who pull off daring and well-planned robberies in their home of Charleston. With the FBI investigating their latest robbery, Doug courts disaster when he develops a romantic relationship with Claire, a worker at one of the banks he and his crew robbed.
While the romance at its center provides some thrills, the real highlight of the movie is the heist sequences.
Affleck brings the community of Charleston to life, serving as a colorful and vivid backdrop to the crime story. While the romance at its center provides some thrills, the real highlight of the movie is the heist sequences. Taking inspiration from movies like Heat, these scenes are not flashy, but rather grounded and intense in their realism. This includes the wild climax in which Doug’s crew attempts an ambitious robbery at Fenway Park.
19
Inside Man (2006)
A Bank Robbery Is Not What It Seems
In a meticulously planned bank heist, masked robbers seize control of a Manhattan bank, strategically maneuvering hostages and covertly blending in among them. As negotiations ensue between the police and the robbers, hidden agendas emerge, including the protection of a mysterious safe deposit box’s contents. Detectives Keith Frazier and Bill Mitchell navigate the complexities of the standoff, uncovering layers of deception that challenge their understanding of the unfolding crisis and its true motivations.
- Release Date
-
March 24, 2006
- Runtime
-
129 minutes
Spike Lee and Denzel Washington have incredible careers filled with great collaborations over the years. However, perhaps their most crowd-pleasing work together is in the clever crime caper Inside Man. Clive Owen stars as the mysterious leader of a group of disciplined robbers who take hostages in a New York City bank. Washington’s Detective Frazier is brought in as a hostage negotiator to handle the situation but soon discovers that this is no ordinary bank robbery.
Many heist movies build to the robbery over time, but Inside Man kicks off the movie with the thieves taking over the bank and then gradually reveals the bigger plan in the works. Washington and Owen make for great adversaries with mutual respect for each other, and they are backed by an incredible cast that includes Jodie Foster, Christopher Plummer, and Willem Dafoe. It all builds to a satisfying reveal that puts the whole story into a new perspective.
18
Mission: Impossible (1996)
Ethan Hunt’s First Daring Mission
Tom Cruise stars as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible, the first in the long-running movie franchise. When a mission in Prague goes south for the Impossible Missions Force (IMF), agent Ethan Hunt is left as the only survivor of his team after an essential CIA list is stolen. Now framed for the death of his colleagues and forced to run from deadly government assassins, Ethan will need to infiltrate the CIA and find the culprits to clear his name in this non-stop action thriller.
- Director
-
Brian De Palma
- Release Date
-
May 22, 1996
- Runtime
-
110 minutes
Many of the Mission: Impossible movies feature a heist element to the story, but the first installment remains the most memorable in this sense. Tom Cruise originated the role of superspy Ethan Hunt in the 1996 movie from Brian De Palma. After Hunt’s team is killed on a failed mission, he is framed as a traitor. In order to clear his name and find the real mole, Hunt assembles a team of disavowed agents to sneak into the CIA headquarters and steal top-secret information.
Mission: Impossible has a lot of other elements to it, including a spy thriller and an action movie. However, the heist sequence is the centerpiece of the film and brilliantly sets up how impossible this mission truly is. While the franchise has grown much larger since the first movie, with death-defying stunts and globe-trotting stories, the heist sequence in the first entry remains perhaps the most iconic moment in the series to date.
17
Inception (2010)
A Dream Thief Attempts An Impossible Heist
Inception, directed by Christopher Nolan, features a skilled thief who uses dream-sharing technology to steal corporate secrets. He is tasked with planting an idea into a CEO’s mind, while confronting his troubled past, which threatens the mission and his team.
- Release Date
-
July 16, 2010
- Cast
-
Leonardo DiCaprio
, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
, Elliot Page
, Tom Hardy
, Ken Watanabe
, Dileep Rao
, Cillian Murphy
, Tom Berenger
, Marion Cotillard
, Pete Postlethwaite
, Michael Caine
, Lukas Haas
, Tai-Li Lee
, Claire Geare
, Magnus Nolan
, Taylor Geare
, Johnathan Geare
, Tohoru Masamune
, Yuji Okumoto
, Earl Cameron
, Ryan Hayward
, Miranda Nolan
, Russ Fega
, Tim Kelleher - Runtime
-
148 minutes
Inception is another movie that uses a lot of other genre aspects to hide the fact that, at its center, it is really a heist movie. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Cobb, a man on the run looking for redemption when he is offered that chance by using his particular set of skills. While Cobb works as a dream thief, entering into the dreams of corporate targets and stealing their valuable ideas and secrets, he is tasked with a more difficult job of implanting an idea in a target’s mind.
Inception has some big concepts to explore and it has a sci-fi premise that is mind-bending with all of the different dream levels making it a complex ride. However, it also follows the heist movie format quite closely with sequences of Cobb assembling the teams, planning out the heist, and all the things that go wrong when they are on the job.
16
Hell Or High Water
Brothers Target Banks On A Crime-Spree Road Trip
Hell or High Water is a modern Western crime thriller directed by David Mackenzie. Starring Chris Pine and Ben Foster as two brothers who embark on a series of bank robberies to save their family ranch, the film delves into themes of economic hardship and justice. Jeff Bridges plays a Texas Ranger nearing retirement, determined to catch them.
- Director
-
David Mackenzie
- Release Date
-
August 12, 2016
- Runtime
-
97minutes
Before becoming one of the biggest names in television with the Yellowstone universe of shows, Taylor Sheridan was a sought-after screenwriter behind the neo-Western heist movie Hell or High Water. Chris Pine and Ben Foster star as two brothers looking to raise money fast in order to save their home from being foreclosed. Their solution is to go on a road trip of bank robberies while a determined lawman (Jeff Bridges) pursues them.
There is also some interesting commentary on the control banks have over people and the idea that these lawless brothers are fighting back against the system.
Hell or High Water uses familiar tropes of the Western genre, transferring them into the modern setting in such an effective way. The heist scenes are simple yet thrilling, with Pine as the nervous yet grounded brother and Foster as the experienced and unhinged one. There is also some interesting commentary on the control banks have over people and the idea that these lawless brothers are fighting back against the system.
15
American Animals (2018)
A True-Crime Story Of Young Amateur Art Thieves
Four young men decide to try to carry out one of the most daring robberies in the history of the United States, forgetting the fact that they are just amateurs.
- Release Date
-
August 14, 2018
- Cast
-
Evan Peters
, Blake Jenner
, Barry Keoghan
, Jared Abrahamson
, Eddie Kingston - Runtime
-
116 min
- Director
-
Bart Layton
Most heists target large stacks of cash or priceless jewels. Thefts involving rare illustrations of birds, as in American Animals, are less common. The movie stars Evan Peters and Barry Keoghan as Warren Lipka and Spencer Reinhard, the aspiring thieves who are initially very hard to take seriously. They come off as normal young men who get swept up in an idea and it is almost shocking when they are actually in the midst of the job.
It is as if they were people who watched too many heist movies and suddenly found themselves in the middle of one. The film blends fact with fiction, as actors appear alongside the real people their characters are based on. There are elements of true crime that punctuate the action, such as retrospective interviews. This results in a peculiar and engaging drama with real heft.
American Animals innovates within the heist genre. The presence of hard facts within the movie relates the crime back to the victims and the morality of theft. Heist films often invite audiences to support a gang of criminals, but American Animals questions this enthusiasm.
14
Point Break (1991)
An FBI Agent Targets A Group Of Thrill-Seeking Bank Robbers
In Southern California, bandits wearing masks of former US presidents commit a series of bizarre bank robberies. Federal agent Johnny Utah infiltrates the gang suspected of carrying out the crimes. Led by the charismatic Bodhi, the group of surfers is addicted to the adrenaline rush of robbery. The problem is that Utah ends up getting romantically involved with Tyler, one of the gang members, and forging strong friendships with Bodhi.
- Director
-
Kathryn Bigelow
- Release Date
-
July 12, 1991
- Runtime
-
122 Minutes
Combining crime and surfing requires a convincing cast and an airtight script. Luckily, Point Break has both in abundance. Keanu Reeves made a career-defining role out of Johnny Utah, a young FBI agent who goes undercover in the surfing community to infiltrate a gang of bank robbers headed by the charismatic Bodhi (Patrick Swayze).
A Point Break remake was released in 2015, with Luke Bracey as Johnny Utah and Édgar Ramirez as Bodhi, though it received negative reviews and didn’t have nearly the pop culture impact of the original.
Point Break‘s heist elements are so fun because the surfers engage in them with such thrill-seeking enthusiasm. While the premise of Reeves as an undercover surfer might sound a little goofy, director Kathryn Bigelow crafts a grounded and surprisingly gritty crime-action movie with some spectacular sequences.
While the heists themselves don’t get as much attention as audiences might expect, the movie does deliver one of cinema’s best foot chase scenes as Reeves pursues Swayze after a robbery. The bank robbers’ use of masks depicting former Presidents of the United States is also an iconic touch that has been referenced and parodied many times.
13
Logan Lucky (2017)
Two Brothers Plan To Rob A Racing Event
Logan Lucky is a comedy-heist film by Steven Soderbergh, the director behind the Ocean’s Eleven series. The Logans are a blue-collar family from the hills of West Virginia, and their clan has been famous for its bad luck for nearly 90 years. But the conniving Jimmy Logan decides it’s time to turn the family’s luck around, and with a bit of help from his friends, the “Redneck Robbers,” he plans to steal $14 million from the Charlotte Motor Speedway on the busiest race day of the year.
- Release Date
-
August 18, 2017
- Runtime
-
118 Minutes
North Carolina provides an unorthodox setting for Steven Soderbergh’s heist film Logan Lucky, but its characters grow so organically from the landscape that it seems a natural choice. Channing Tatum and Adam Driver pair seamlessly as Jimmy and Clyde Logan, two brothers looking for a big score as they plan to rob a NASCAR event.
They are helped along the way by Daniel Craig’s hilarious explosives expert, Joe Bang. The movie also stars the likes of Riley Keough, Sebastian Stan, and Seth MacFarlane. Similar to American Animals, the men at the center of the heist do not come across as expert criminals but rather desperate men who get the idea that they could pull this off.
However, these characters, even Craig’s incarcerated bomb expert, are likable thieves who are easy to root for. The movie mixes the intrigue of the heist with light-hearted humor, but as fun as it is to see how the team pulls off the heist, the climax of the movie is even more crowd-pleasing as the audience sees the steps taken to ensure they won’t be caught.
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10 Heist Movies That Should Get Sequels
A lot of film fanatics and celebrities are wishfully hoping that they will get a sequel to The Italian Job or Tower Heist
12
Baby Driver (2017)
A Getaway Driver Uses Music Behind The Wheel
After being coerced into working for a crime boss, getaway driver Baby is determined to escape his life of thievery and violence to make a life with his girlfriend Debora, However, when he finds himself taking part in a heist doomed to fail, things start looking desperate.
- Release Date
-
June 28, 2017
- Runtime
-
113 minutes
Edgar Wright’s punchy direction and wry humor shine through in Baby Driver, the British director’s first movie set on American soil. The title character (Ansel Elgort) is pressured into a life of crime, but he still shows a natural flair and pride in his work as a getaway driver.
Using his own personalized playlist for his driving, he proves himself to be the most skilled wheelman while also having a big heart. The Baby Driver soundtrack oozes cool, as do the performances of Jon Hamm and Jamie Foxx as unstable thieves. Interestingly, the actual heists in the movie aren’t the focal point as the camera stays with Baby sitting outside in the car.
Baby Driver utilizes all of Wright’s familiar camera tricks to portray some of the most thrilling chase scenes in recent memory.
However, the lack of action in the heists is made up for with the getaway sequences. Baby Driver utilizes all of Wright’s familiar camera tricks to portray some of the most thrilling chase scenes in recent memory. Away from the action, the movie also benefits from a genuine warmth, stemming from Baby’s relationships with his new girlfriend and his foster father.
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11
Widows (2018)
The Widows Of Thieves Must Finish Their Husbands’ Job
Widows follows the story of four women in Chicago who are left with a debt from their deceased spouses’ criminal activities. With little in common except their losses, they unite in an attempt to control their destinies by executing a heist.
- Release Date
-
November 16, 2018
- Cast
-
Daniel Kaluuya
, Brian Tyree Henry
, Liam Neeson
, Cynthia Erivo
, Michelle Rodriguez
, Colin Farrell
, Carrie Coon
, Robert Duvall
, Viola Davis
, Elizabeth Debicki
, Andre Holland
, Jacki Weaver - Runtime
-
130 Minutes
The heist genre is disproportionately skewed in favor of male stories. Widows expertly flips this notion on its head and marks a confident departure from the tropes of typical crime movies. Four women are brought together when they discover that their late husbands were all members of a criminal gang. They decide to step out from the shadows and forge their own paths to pay off the debts they are left with.
The result is a radically different heist movie fueled by righteous anger and helped by Viola Davis in electric form. The movie packs an incredible all-star cast that also includes Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Daniel Kaluuya, Colin Farrell, Carrie Coon, and Liam Neeson among others.
Oscar-winning director Steve McQueen approaches the movie in a grounded and gritty way, making it believable that these amateurs could pull off something like this with their determination and rational approach. Hopefully, future heist movies will follow the blueprint set by Widows, and redress the genre’s gender imbalance.
10
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Two Simple Bank Robbers Find Themselves In A Hostage Situation
Dog Day Afternoon
A man tries to rob a bank to pay for his lover’s operation, who ends up in a hostage situation besieged by the media.
- Director
-
Sidney Lumet
- Release Date
-
December 25, 1975
While so many heist movies focus on the slick precision of the thieves, one of the genre’s best shows how bank robberies can spiral out of control extremely fast. Based on a true story, Dog Day Afternoon follows a simple heist that devolves into an hours-long siege, reflecting the chaos of New York City in the 1970s.
Al Pacino earned an Oscar nomination for his lead performance as Sonny Wortzik and the movie cemented his co-star John Cazale’s indelible legacy. Sonny is a deeply sympathetic and relatable hero. He may have chosen to rob a bank, but beyond that crime, he’s just a good guy having a terrible day.
His care for the hostages and his humorous communications with the police distinguish him from the typical ideas one might associate with a bank robber. He’s an intensely watchable but flawed hero. The movie almost seems like one long scene which adds to the tension of the standoff as it becomes more and more apparent that Sonny is not going to get his happy ending.
9
Rififi (1955)
Four Criminals Assemble For An Impossible Job
Tony is a young man who, on his release from prison, discovers that his girlfriend has not remained faithful to him. Deciding to return to the world of crime, he begins to plan a major robbery of a jewelry store, along with his gang. However, he didn’t expect that one of his partners would make a fatal mistake in the execution of the plan.
- Director
-
Jules Dassin
- Release Date
-
June 5, 1956
- Cast
-
Jean Servais
, Carl Möhner
, Robert Manuel
, Janine Darcey
, Pierre Grasset
, Robert Hossein
, Marcel Lupovici
, Dominique Maurin - Runtime
-
118 Minutes
So many of the story beats and character templates that have become traditions in heist movies can trace their roots back to Rififi.
The French movie Rififi essentially created the heist genre. The film follows four criminals who come together in order to pull off a seemingly impossible jewelry heist. So many of the story beats and character templates that have become traditions in heist movies can trace their roots back to Rififi. There’s the recently released prisoner, the safe-cracking specialist, and the love interest who turns out to be the true object of the protagonist’s desires.
While a movie consisting of these elements would appear to be a tired rehash if it were produced today, the originality of Rififi lends it a captivating level of suspense. The entirely wordless heist scene remains one of the greatest ever put to film, more than half a century later. The sequence plays out as a long-extended set piece that expertly builds tension with the audience on the edge of their seats.
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8
Snatch (2000)
Colorful Characters Collide While Looking For A Stolen Diamond
Snatch is a comedic crime film by director Guy Ritchie that centers on several different groups of characters’ paths that begin to cross after a missing diamond becomes central to their stories. From a fight promoter trying to make pay his bookie to a group of inept bank robbers that fumble a bookkeeping heist, a stolen diamond ends up in the stomach of a dog, setting off a hectic chain of violent but darkly comedic events.
- Release Date
-
January 19, 2001
- Runtime
-
102 minutes
Guy Ritchie’s intricately woven gangster movie introduces a dizzying assortment of unscrupulous characters all chasing after a stolen diamond. Interestingly, the heist itself takes place in the first scene with the rest of the movie following the various colorful characters who want to get their hands on the priceless goods. This includes low-level boxing promoters, an American gangster, a Russian killer, and a bare-knuckle boxer.
Brad Pitt’s Mickey O’Neil steals the show, but Snatch‘s ensemble cast works together to create an immersive vision of a brutal London underworld. Ritchie’s fingerprints are all over the movie, from the thrilling storylines to the unique quips that only he can so regularly produce.
Jason Statham shows off his comedy chops as Turkish, bringing a jovial sharpness that elevates a movie that could otherwise drift toward overt brutality. Each character in the complex web of crime serves a carefully defined purpose, and they coalesce into a propulsive story.
7
How To Steal A Million (1966)
An Art Thief And The Daughter Of A Forger Team Up
How to Steal a Million
- Run Time
-
123 min
- Director
-
William Wyler
How to Steal a Million exemplifies the heist genre’s malleability. The heist at the center of the movie, perpetrated so that the daughter of an art forger can destroy her father’s work, provides the perfect backdrop for a seductive romantic comedy. Audrey Hepburn and Peter O’Toole bounce off one another with effortless wit and grace. It’s a pleasure to witness two true movie stars at the top of their game, and this film beckons the audience to root for them in earnest.
The movie has a lot of fun with twisting the heist genre into a funny and charming rom-com. The meet-cute between the two leads takes place in the midst of a heist and the audience gets to watch them fall for each other while pulling off the central robbery of the movie. Even the long sequence when the pair hide out in a closet crackles with intangible movie magic, with the gorgeous orchestral soundtrack adding to a true sense of grandeur.
6
Ruben Brandt, Collector (2018)
A Man Hires Thieves To Steal Works Of Art That Are Haunting Him
The Hungarian animated thriller Ruben Brandt, Collector shows that there is still new ground to break in the heist genre. The movie follows a man who is tormented by figures from famous paintings, so he pulls together a skilled crew and tries to steal every artwork for himself. The eye-popping animation underlines the movie’s message that art holds the key to a peaceful soul.
Each frame is so lovingly drawn that they drip with hidden meaning and subtle humor that could easily go unnoticed. Heist movies run the risk of falling into the same familiar patterns, but Ruben Brandt, Collector proudly showcases something completely innovative. It is one of the most interesting motivations for a heist at the center of the story. Indeed, the complicated narrative will not be for everyone, but there is no denying the alluring nature of the movie’s animation.
