The movie "The Italian Job" is a remake of a 1969 movie, same name, starring Michael Caine. The modern version stars Mark Wahlberg (Three Kings) as Charlie Croker, a thief who leads a group of thieves to steal what was stolen from them by a former member of the group, Steve, played by Edward Norton (Keeping the Faith).

The movie also stars Charlize Theron--Whoo Hoo!--(Monster), Jason Statham (The Transporter), Seth Green (Austin Powers trilogy), and rap recording artist Mos Def, as well as a cameo by Donald Sutherland (Backdraft). I know Sutherland was in a bunch of other movies, but I most remember him from "Animal House," probably because I just like that movie.

"The Italian Job" was directed by F. Gary Gray, who has directed the movies "Friday" and "The Negotiator," among others. This film was what I call a fun movie; no great acting, the story is okay, and the movie itself is decent. However, by the same token, the movie wasn't boring, its action was good, the cinematography and settings were all cool. It was a fun movie which everybody should see.

The story is fairly simple. A bunch of thieves, headed by Croker (Wahlberg), are stealing about $30 million in gold from these Italian guys. Each member of the crew has a specific role to play. The heist goes off without a hitch, and the leadership of the gang goes from Jon to Charlie. However the hiccup happens when Steve decides to be greedy and steals the $30 million for himself, murdering Jon in the process.

From this point forward, the gang attempts to steal the money back from Steve and avenge the loss of Jon. However, since Jon was the only true Thief of the group, Charlie goes and enlists Stella (Theron), Jon's daughter, for help. She has an honest business, testing safe locks and combinations for companies and working for the police. From there on, the story is a fun ride to see how the gang gets the money back.

Overall, the movie is fun and has a good ensemble cast. The script was written so everybody had a least one good line, and everybody is a smart ass. The only drawback I feel the film has is, even though the movie is called "The Italian Job," very little of the movie takes place in Italy, or Europe for that matter. Almost all of it takes place in California.

If it were up to me, I would have kept the movie in Europe. It's a small thing which isn't even a problem for the movie. It's just mine.

I would give this movie a decent rating solely it was fun, and I throw in one upgrade cause the ensemble cast worked. This movie was not groundbreaking in any aspect, but it is worth the price of the ticket and the popcorn that goes with it.

Brian-The Naked Gun