The Opportunists
Encyclopedia
The Opportunists is a 2000 film starring Christopher Walken
, with an appearance by Cyndi Lauper
as the New Yorker Sally Mahon. It is assigned the criteria of a comedy/crime drama.
is Victor "Vic" Kelly, played by Christopher Walken,
a struggling auto mechanic with a safe-cracking past and a lot of debt. When a
supposed cousin from Ireland visits Vic, the alleged cousin sabotages one of
Vic's auto repair jobs, to ensure Vic's desperation and participation in
the robbery scheme introduced
to Vic by neighborhood resident Pat, played by Donal Logue. Vic is too stubbornly
proud to accept a loan from his bar-owner girlfriend, played by singer Cyndi
Lauper, who offers Vic money that she was otherwise planning to use to renovate
and remodel her neighborhood bar. Vic agrees to the robbery scheme, and goes to
the armored courier service posing as a potential customer. Given a view of the
facility, including being shown the triple combination-lock vault, Vic then goes
to work on practicing his safecracking skills for the big day.
The auto mechanic takes one last shot at the lucrative robbery - with his
Irish cohort - to pay off his debts. We find out the cousin is not really a
cousin. Vic becomes locked in the vault, while the fake cousin takes a bag
of cash and makes his excape from the scene.
The Irish cohort has a change of heart and returns to Vic with a bag
of cash absconded from Vic at the scene at the crime. Vic can now afford
to keep his elderly Aunt in her retirement home. There's enough money for
Vic to be a good guy and give a cut to the two guards, who were in on the
robbery with Vic, and had gotten fired. And Vic buys a juke box as a gift
for his girlfriend's remodeled bar.
A second bag of cash is taken from the vault by the armored-courrier
service owner, who will report all the cash missing, and make false insurance
and IRS claims. To protect his own scheme, the owner refuses to press charges
against Vic. Vic finally experiences a bit of good luck for once in his life.
The movie ends with Vic walking back to his girlfriend.
Its a gritty crime drama that takes place in the urban setting of Greenpoint,
Brooklyn, in New York City.
Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...
, with an appearance by Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
as the New Yorker Sally Mahon. It is assigned the criteria of a comedy/crime drama.
Plot
The film's protagonistProtagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
is Victor "Vic" Kelly, played by Christopher Walken,
a struggling auto mechanic with a safe-cracking past and a lot of debt. When a
supposed cousin from Ireland visits Vic, the alleged cousin sabotages one of
Vic's auto repair jobs, to ensure Vic's desperation and participation in
the robbery scheme introduced
to Vic by neighborhood resident Pat, played by Donal Logue. Vic is too stubbornly
proud to accept a loan from his bar-owner girlfriend, played by singer Cyndi
Lauper, who offers Vic money that she was otherwise planning to use to renovate
and remodel her neighborhood bar. Vic agrees to the robbery scheme, and goes to
the armored courier service posing as a potential customer. Given a view of the
facility, including being shown the triple combination-lock vault, Vic then goes
to work on practicing his safecracking skills for the big day.
The auto mechanic takes one last shot at the lucrative robbery - with his
Irish cohort - to pay off his debts. We find out the cousin is not really a
cousin. Vic becomes locked in the vault, while the fake cousin takes a bag
of cash and makes his excape from the scene.
The Irish cohort has a change of heart and returns to Vic with a bag
of cash absconded from Vic at the scene at the crime. Vic can now afford
to keep his elderly Aunt in her retirement home. There's enough money for
Vic to be a good guy and give a cut to the two guards, who were in on the
robbery with Vic, and had gotten fired. And Vic buys a juke box as a gift
for his girlfriend's remodeled bar.
A second bag of cash is taken from the vault by the armored-courrier
service owner, who will report all the cash missing, and make false insurance
and IRS claims. To protect his own scheme, the owner refuses to press charges
against Vic. Vic finally experiences a bit of good luck for once in his life.
The movie ends with Vic walking back to his girlfriend.
Its a gritty crime drama that takes place in the urban setting of Greenpoint,
Brooklyn, in New York City.
Cast
- Christopher WalkenChristopher WalkenChristopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...
as Victor 'Vic' Kelly - Peter McDonald (actor)Peter McDonald (actor)Peter McDonald is an Irish stage and screen actor. He grew up in Mount Merrion in South County Dublin. His mother, Brenda Costigan is a cookery writer and his father, Richard McDonald sells bailer twine...
as Mikey Lawler - Donal LogueDonal LogueDonal Francis Logue is an Canadian actor perhaps most famous for his role as Sean Finnerty in Grounded for Life.-Personal life:...
as Pat Duffy - Vera FarmigaVera FarmigaVera Ann Farmiga is an American actress and director. Farmiga made her film debut in the 1998 drama thriller Return to Paradise. This was followed by supporting roles in the 2000 romantic film Autumn in New York and the 2001 television series UC: Undercover...
as Miriam Kelly - John OrtizJohn OrtizJohn Ortiz is an American actor and Artistic Director/Co-Founder of LAByrinth Theater Company.-Career:In 1993, John made his film debut as Al Pacino’s young cousin ‘Guajiro’ in Carlito’s Way. He went on to appear in over 30 films including El Cantante, Take the Lead, Before Night Falls, Amistad,...
as Ismael Espinoza - Tom NoonanTom NoonanTom Noonan is an American actor and film writer-director.-Early life:Noonan was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, the son of Rosaleen and Tom Noonan, who worked as a dentist and jazz musician respectively...
as Mort Stein - Cyndi LauperCyndi LauperCynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
as Sally Mahon
Awards
The movie was nominated for an Artios Award for Best Casting For Feature Film, Independent, as well as an Open Palm Award for Myles Connell in 2000.External links
- The Opportunists on The Internet Movie Database