He’s also not exactly your common thief, he’s above that and shows a moral regard for Anne, even when he could have easily taken advantage of her. You just can’t help but feel for the guy and wish him the best. It’s a slyly engineered film that endears you to Nolte, no matter what he’s doing. Seeing how Bob tries to find a new life for himself when he really has no hope and seeing how down-and-out he is just makes for an even more endearing character and some great plot turns that go beyond what you might expect after seeing the recent Ocean’s 11. Sure, it’s rough at times, and even fairly honest about aspects of life, but it’s also an elegant and amusing marriage of the classic heist film, with some wonderful character development, as when we see Bob handcuff himself to his bed to clean the drugs out of his system. However, I don’t think The Good Thief is quite as simple as all that.
In a simple respect, The Good Thief is based on Jean-Pierre Melville’s 1955 film, Bob le flambeur, which also spawned the two Ocean’s 11 films, and probably influenced a variety of other “let’s rob the casino” films. Of course, as fate would have it, Bob happens upon the “perfect” heist the very next day, and from there, everything begins to fall into place for a night to remember. That’s when he meets Anne on one of her first nights on the job as a prostitute, and runs into an old cop friend of his, Roger, who happens to worry a lot about Bob falling into the same old criminal patterns. He’s an ex-thief who’s broke, hooked on drugs, alcohol and gambling, and seemingly living from day-to-day. The Good Thief follows Bob at one of the most desperate points in his life. All of whom seem to admire Bob, and are constantly looking out for his best interests. Starring in the film are three of Bob’s guardian angels: Tcheky Karyo, as Roger, the young new-comer, Nutsa Kukhiandze as Anne, a kind of oddly romantic figure in the film for Nolte’s character, and Gerard Darmon as Bob’s “business associate”, Raoul. That’s to say nothing of how much I liked the film itself and the wonderful cast that made it as good as it was. That’s why I have to admit that I’m pleasantly surprised by how much I loved him as Bob Montagnet in The Good Thief. He’s a consummate actor, but there’s always just been something about his characters and performances that didn’t quite sit right with me. Let me be honest, I’ve never really liked Nick Nolte before.
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