The Good Thief Review
by Steve Rhodes (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)October 21st, 2002
THE GOOD THIEF
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2002 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): * 1/2
Set in a Philadelphia working-class neighborhood, R.T. Herwig's THE GOOD THIEF is an uneventful story about a newly released convict. Glacially paced, only the film's artificial atmospherics have any hope of keeping most viewers' attention. The picture has two modes -- fog and no fog. The fake fog is so pervasive that it even fills a large church.
Christopher Kadish plays Christopher Doogan, the central character, as something of a cipher. If Doogan has emotions, it isn't apparent. He's a thief who has just been paroled for good behavior. The predictable plot has him being offered a job by the local crime boss, but we have to endure over an hour of domestic dullness before the script finally thinks of something to do. The crime itself turns out to be as much of a dud as the rest of story.
I told the director, who was at our screening, that I thought his film was bland and too long. His response was wonderfully candid. "I knew it would be a bland film, but that's who I am. That's what I wanted."
With very little happening, I began to watch for the trivial as a way to pass the time. Since we had what seemed like a hundred meals with Doogan and his parents -- the actual count was about 5 or 6 -- I began to notice his eating habits. At every meal he would put lots of either salt or pepper on his food, but never both. The movie itself is in bad need of some spicing up, as well trimming about a half hour of fat.
THE GOOD THIEF runs a very long 1:58. It is not rated but would be PG-13 for some violence and language and would be acceptable for kids around 11 and up.
The film does not yet have a release date. It was shown recently at the Camera Cinema Club (http://www.cameracinemas.com/club) of Campbell and San Jose.
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