Variety
Derivative heist thriller-comedy that passes painlessly enough at a brisk 90 minutes.
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The Art of the Steal (2013)
Heist comedy caper starring Kurt Russell as a failed daredevil, leading a gang of thieves (including Matt Dillon, Terence Stamp and Jay Baruchel) as they attempt to steal a multi-million-dollar antique book.
"Russell plays Crunch Calhoun, a motorcycle daredevil vaunted less for his death-defying leaps than his calamitous crash landings. Crunch also fancies himself something of a master thief, but winds up in prison when he's double-crossed by Nicky (Dillon), his brother and partner in crime. Released after serving his sentence, the cash-strapped former stuntman is inevitably tempted to complete one last score, and reluctantly reunites with his scheming sibling. With a painstaking plan in place and the old crew reassembled, the million-dollar question becomes: can the Calhoun brothers pull off the job before their tenuous truce unravels?" (Toronto Film Festival)
2013Rating: M90 minsCanada, USA
Comedy
- Director:
- Jonathan Sobol ('A Beginner's Guide to Endings')
- Writer:
- Jonathan Sobol
- Cast:
- Kurt RussellMatt DillonJay BaruchelKenneth WelshChris DiamantopoulosKatheryn WinnickJason JonesTerence StampDevon BostickElle Downs
The Art of the Steal (2013) / Reviews
Time Out
Made up of plundered parts from the Oceans series and The Usual Suspects, and-like several of the forged tomes that figure in the plot-it's a pale imitation.
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The New York Times
Fairly amusing heist film with some sibling tension helping the story along.
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The Dissolve
It's fairly transparent to anyone who's seen more than a couple of con-man pictures. Indeed, the plot is so perfunctory and shrug-worthy that it seems to function primarily as an excuse to let the cast riff.
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Hollywood Reporter
Satisfies both our vicarious greed and the desire some viewers will have to see a priceless work of art wind up in the hands of someone who couldn't care less about its price.
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Empire Magazine
Conventional to an almost eye-watering degree, this could have used a little more effort to subvert the genre - and a little more Terence Stamp.
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