In Frank Oz’s 2001 film, “Score,” Robert De Niro plays Nick. Nick is approached by a burglar named Jack (Edward Norton) about a potentially advantageous robbery. However, this is all doubtful from the jump, as Nick is usually employed for robbery by his fence and longtime quasi-max (Marlon Brand). Jack seems to want to control the situation, and Nick doesn’t care. Like all the best robbery films, “Score” is almost procedural, detailing how Nick and Jack break into a safe containing a precious golden scepter. Rather than breaking the safe in a clever way, Nick thinks to dig a hole in the top, fill it with water, then lower the small bomb down. The explosion causes the water to expand and the door blows the safe. It’s just physics.
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Despite starring Brando and De Niro, Norton is a show-off of the acting “Score.” One thing his character does to abandon his doubts is to pose as a mentally disabled person with a speech disorder. Jack may easily come and go in and out of persona and immediately think of some speeches from “Tropic Thunder” about the difficult nature of playing a mentally ill person. Norton proves that in the process of making “Score” one of his own best films, it is the actor’s influence alone.
Sadly, Oz doesn’t roll on those themes. Instead, they make a very simple thriller by simply starring some of the best actors of each generation. “Score” is oddly relaxed for a robbery movie. It features a scene between Nick and Max talking about how they’re older. It’s a solid enough film, but those who are hoping for a fierce conflict between De Niro and the Brand (La De Niro and Al Pacino of “The Heat”) would be very disappointed.
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Vito Corleone meets Vito Corleone with a score
When it was released in 2001, many audiences wanted to see the De Niro/Brando scene, of course, as they played the same character in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather” film. Brand portrayed the older Vitcorleone in his first “The Godfather” film, while De Niro played him as a young man in the expanded flashbacks in “The Godfather Part II.” It may allow Oz to perform two actors as rivals, threaten each other and regain the inclination of their respective Godfathers towards violence. In “Score,” the pair doesn’t play violent men. Certainly, their characters are willing to leave their past behind and retire in peace. I don’t think many mainstream viewers were expecting between De Niro and Brando.
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“Score” is more than anything, an acting showcase for three leads, all of which make good use of themselves. But Oz didn’t create much character complexity, and the film’s acclaimed screenwriters (Daniel E. Taylor, Cario Salem, Rem Dobbs, Scott Marshall Smith) didn’t bother with a big empirical speech. There’s nothing flashy about “scores.” It’s all very understated. It also proved to be a brand’s on-screen performance before its death in 2004.
Oz’s film is making $113.5 million on a $68 million budget, not at the box office. However, it has been moderately well reviewed and currently boasts a 74% rating Rotten tomatoes Based on 129 reviews. Some critics disliked that lack of energy (AO Scott’s review in the New York Times But it was totally negative.) Roger Ebert gave it to three and a half stars.calling it one of the best robbery films he’s seen in years. Most critics seemed to like the slow pace and mellow acting due to the film’s screen legend.
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