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Thick As Thieves
An intriguing and engaging but, ultimately shallow revenge drama, Thick As Thieves plays
entirely too much like one of those interminable Elmore Leonard adaptations (it's actually
based on a novel by Patrick Quinn) that have plagued our screens of late, and not one of the
better ones, either. Alec Baldwin is a professional thief who gets grassed to crooked cops by
his onetime partners in crime after completing a job in Detroit. The narrative switches back
and forth between Miami and Motown, where busy restaurateur Pointy Williams (played as
style-obsessed black dude by Michael Jai White) is being investigated by homicide detective,
Rebecca De Mornay, who's searching for the thief. With bloody trails left by desperate
cop-killer Baldwin, and gangsters of questionable competence (including the excellent Andre
Braugher from the TV series, Homicide), it eventually becomes clear that things will
have to be settled 'the Chicago way.' Baldwin, though, is out for vengeance after goons shoot
his beloved pet in an attack on his motel room. What makes this work, in the few scenes that
are watchable, anyway, is the agreeable attention to character. All have a quirk or two -
Baldwin loves trad jazz; the elderly mafia boss just wants to retire in peace - but these
do tend to define their characters rather than simply being a part of what makes them
individuals. And so we get the faintly ridiculous scenes of Baldwin cleaning his dog's teeth,
and Baldwin finding tiny scratches (between tracks!) on vinyl albums just to save money at the
record store. Fine comic moments, sure, but these traits and others like them reduce the film
to a series of funny sketches and bleed the main plot to death. DOWSE
Guide to the Movies
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