Michael Mann’s debut proper 1981′s James Caan starring Thief is a fantastic debut, and one that is incredibly telling of things to come from Mann. It was also pretty much the end of the road for Caan as a viable leading man, and the subject matter actually works rather well as a bookend of sorts. 

Caan plays Frank, a professional safecracker aiming to bequit the life of a criminal and go straight. As is usually the case with these sort of redemption stories Frank has to commit to one last job™ before he can settle down with his wife (played by Tuesday Weld of Once Upon A Time in America fame) and kid. Obviously there’s a catch, yet the way in which it is handled is actually fairly inspired, and drags Thief away from similar fare. 

The film opens with a no-doubt-Nolan inspiring burglary, which is told all but silently. It’s a magnificently executed scene, and one that really pulls the rug under the feet of the audience, in that the scene that follows is of a completely different ilk. That ties into my feeling that Thief is a film of two halves; on the one hand we have the side that focusses on the crime aspect, which involves Frank’s dealing with gangsters and suchlike, yet on the other hand we have the dramatic side of things, the side that revolves around Frank’s homelife, and is actually very emotionally involving. As such the film does falter at times, and does feel incredibly staggered, yet I’m not entirely sure that this wasn’t Mann’s intention. The optimist would suggest that the two stunted worlds combining influence the deft, prolonged and even ill-fitting worlds on screen.

The world of Thief is given an air of authenticity largel devoid of such Hollywood fare, and actually doesn’t feel patronising. Slang is used freely and without explanation, the portrayal of the police as corrupt doesn’t need justifying so isn’t, and the revelation of the inner workings of the gangster-type figure’s homelife is literally shown as opposed to examine. As a result the finished piece doesn’t feel groomed in the way that a lot of late 70′s/early 80′s crime thrillers do. Even more importantly the film doesn’t patronise it’s audience, which is something that this type of film gets wrong all too often. 

The film is beautifully shot, and a definite forebearer of Mann’s work in the genre. The scene involving the planning of the major heist from on top of a skyscraper is particularly memorable, with the angles of the buildings cutting into the frame as though it was an impending character. The angles used throughout the film indicates as to what Mann became known for, and the lighting is spectacular. Only Michael Mann would have the guts to shoot a night-time robbery with such bright colours, those of which are the results of the special kit uses to break into the second safe. It’s a truly awesome scene, and a style of shooting that Mann would go onto refine and claim as his own. The emotional kick of Mann’s work is also prevailant, with the way in which the naming of David scene follows the death of his namesake (played by Willie Nelson) being the most immediate example. 

And now back to the aforementioned catch. 

Thief has its traditional hollywood ending 30 minutes prior to the actual climax of the film. Just as we expect things wrapping up, as our hero lies on a beach with his wife and kid, having successfully robbed his biggest target everything falls apart. Learning that he can’t just walk away from his new bedfellows Frank takes things into his own hands, losing his family and effectively his life in the process. This “second” ending gives our protagonist a much more believable and downbeat ending, and a conclusion further in keeping with the tone of the film. As Frank has become the broken man wandering off into the night, the broken man predicted at several points throughout the film we are reminded of the jarring and atypical moments the film holds. Moments such as the morbidly romantic date between Frank and Jessie, which is about as unconventional a “date” scene as one can remember, or the moment in which Frank realises that he has a son, which is treated in the same manner as any scene involving an expectant father making such a discovery, despite the nature of the manner of his acquirement of the baby. The film is very surreal in this respect, yet largely successful in the respect that it moves Thief away from its peers.