Movies - The Score

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The Score is a 2001 crime drama. It is notable for its cast, which includes Robert De Niro as Nick Wells, a Canadian professional art thief, who wants out of the criminal life for good because of his age and his girlfriend (Angela Bassett), Edward Norton as Jack Teller, the ambitious new kid who teams up with Wells for this "inside job", and Marlon Brando as Max, Wells' financial partner and good friend, who plans the caper and connects Wells with Teller. For Actor's Studio graduates Brando and De Niro, the only two people ever to win an Academy Award for the same starring role, as Don Corleone in The Godfather
and The Godfather Part II
, respectively, this was the first time they had actually worked together.

This 124-minute redux of the antihero seeking redemption and freedom after his inevitable "last big job" tale was directed by De Niro and Frank Oz. Oz is perhaps best known for his work as a puppeteer with Jim Henson's Muppets. Some have claimed that during the production, Brando, who was infamously difficult to work with, by most accounts, repeatedly argued with Oz and called him "Miss Piggy".

It was based upon a story by first-timers Daniel E. Taylor and Emmy-winner Kario Salem.

Plot

In the film, Wells and Teller intend to steal a priceless French scepter, once thought lost but rediscovered as it was brought into Canada illegally. However the job requires getting the artifact out of the heavily-guarded Montreal Customs House, where Teller has taken a maintenance job. In order to avoid suspicion, Teller has played the part of a mentally challenged person named Brian. Norton's portrayal was consistently compared by film critics with that of Leonardo DiCaprio in What's Eating Gilbert Grape
. The two-time Academy Award nominee Norton was almost universally placed well below DiCaprio's 1993 Oscar-nominated role as Arnie Grape.

Critics

Many critics wrote negative reviews of the film, not because it was bad, but simply because they expected so much more from a film with a core cast boasting four Oscars and twelve nominations between the three of them. Peter Travers, a film critic for Rolling Stone, pointed out that when "two Don Corleones team up", he expected "the kind of movie that makes people say, 'I'd pay to see these guys just read from the phone book.'" Instead, what he had to say about it was: "There's nothing you can't see coming in this flick, including the surprise ending. Quick, somebody get a phone book." However, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it three and one half stars out of four, calling it "the best pure heist movie in recent years."

Facts

Despite the powerful draw of the cast, the negative reviews had correctly anticipated public response to the film. After a July 13, 2001 opening, the sixty-eight million dollar film earned a gross box office take of just $71,069,884.

Angela Bassett won a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for her portrayal of Wells' girlfriend, Diane. Most critics agreed, though, that her part was underused in the film.

The film's score was by Oscar-winner Howard Shore, noted for his work on the score to the Lord of the Rings
trilogy.

The Score was Marlon Brando's final appearance on screen. However, technically, he will appear in the upcoming film Superman Returns

This is one of the few movies featuring the rare BMW 8 Series, which was driven in the movie by Robert De Niro.

Edward Norton later admitted he wasn't very fond of the script and only did the film to work with De Niro and Brando.

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