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The Score (film)
Encyclopedia
The Score is a 2001
crime
thriller directed by Frank Oz
and starring Robert De Niro
, Edward Norton
, Angela Bassett
and Marlon Brando
.
It was the final film performance for Brando and the only time he and De Niro appeared in a film together (although they had previously portrayed the same character, Vito Corleone
, in The Godfather
and The Godfather Part II
respectively, for which they had both won Academy Awards
).
The screenplay was based upon a story by Daniel E. Taylor and Emmy
-winner Kario Salem.
Nick Wells (Robert De Niro
) decides the time has finally come to retire from his illegal activities and focus on running his jazz club
. Nick's flight attendant girlfriend, Diane (Angela Bassett
), encourages this decision, promising to fully commit to their relationship if he does indeed go straight. Nick, however, is lured into taking one final score by his fence
Max (Marlon Brando
). The job, worth a $
4 million pay off to Nick, is to steal a valuable French scepter, which was being smuggled illegally into the United States through Canada but was accidentally discovered and detained at the Montréal Customs House
.
Max introduces Nick to Jack Teller (Edward Norton
), an ambitious, albeit foolhardy, thief who has infiltrated the Custom's House and gained access to information regarding the security by pretending to be an intellectually disabled janitor named Brian. Nick hires his associate Steven (Jamie Harrold) to hack into the Custom Houses' security system to obtain the bypass codes allowing them to temporarily manipulate the alert protocols of the system during the heist. Steven is caught, however, by a corrupt system's administrator who extorts Nick for $50,000 for the information. More complications arise when they're forced to move up their time-table after the Custom's House becomes aware of the true value of the scepter and adds extra CCTV
camera's to monitor it while they make preparations to return it to its rightful owners.
Nick uses a sewer system tunnel to enter the Customs House basement as Jack uses the bypass codes to rig the cameras to shut off while Nick sneaks into the storage room. Jack, pretending to be Brian, keeps the guards and other janitor's occupied while Nick fills the enormous in-floor safe containing the scepter with water and inserts and then detonates a depth charge
to blow off the door. He quickly packs up the scepter in a carrying case to depart, but Jack double cross
es him and at gunpoint demands he hand over the scepter. Nick reluctantly gives up the carrying case and seconds later the alarm, rigged by Jack, alerts the entire compound to the heist. Nick darts for the sewer entrance he came in as Jack heads back upstairs, tucking the carrying case inside his janitor jumpsuit and slipping past the incoming police units responding to the burglary. Nick manages to elude the security guards chasing him through the sewer tunnels and escapes.
After making it to a bus station to flee the city, Jack calls Nick to gloat and is shocked to discover that Nick has in fact double crossed him by handing him a carrying case containing a fake scepter. Taunting Jack that "every cop in the city" is now looking for him, Nick hangs up and boards a boat with the real scepter as a shocked Jack broods over his situation. Later, Max smiles as he watches a news broadcast reporting a massive manhunt being organized to find Jack, the prime suspect, and an "unknown" accomplice. Nick then meets Diane at the airport as she returns from work, and she happily accepts a kiss and hug from him.
". Oz later blamed himself for the tension and cited his tendency to be confrontational rather than nurturing in response to Brando's acting style.
Most of the conversations between De Niro and Brando are improvised
. Norton later admitted he wasn't very fond of the script and only did the film to work with De Niro and Brando, stating that he would have loved a script that "had three characters reading from the Montreal phone book, if the other two actors were Brando and DeNiro". This film was Brando's final completed film before his death in 2004. Two years after his death, he appeared in the film Superman Returns
in archive footage as Superman
's father Jor-El
, a role he played in the original 1978 film Superman and in the 1980 sequel Superman II
.
.
, based on 128 reviews with a rating average of 6.5/10. Peter Travers
, a film critic for Rolling Stone
, pointed out that when "two Don Corleones
team up", he expected "the kind of movie that makes people say, 'I'd pay to see these guys just read from the phone book.'" Instead, what he had to say about it was: "There's nothing you can't see coming in this flick, including the surprise ending. Quick, somebody get a phone book', apparently in reference to Norton's comment in an earlier interview about working with his two idols. Roger Ebert
of the Chicago Sun-Times
gave it three and a half stars out of four, calling it "the best pure heist movie in recent years."
Frank Oz on the DVD
commentary defends the film as one in which he desired to take risks. Therefore, they started filming with an incomplete script and used several shooting methods that are usually frowned upon in the industry.
After a July 13, 2001 opening, the $68 million dollar film earned a gross domestic box office take of $71,107,711. Combined with the foreign box office, the worldwide total is $113,579,918.
Angela Bassett
won a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for her portrayal of Wells' girlfriend, Diane.
2001 in film
The year 2001 in film involved some significant events, including the first of the Harry Potter series and also the first of The Lord of the Rings trilogy...
crime
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
thriller directed by Frank Oz
Frank Oz
Frank Oz is a British-born American film director, actor, voice actor and puppeteer who is known for creating and performing the characters Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear in The Muppet Show, Cookie Monster, Bert and Grover in Sesame Street, and for directing films, including the 1986 Little Shop of...
and starring Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
, Edward Norton
Edward Norton
Edward Harrison Norton is an American actor, screenwriter, film director and producer. In 1996, his supporting role in the courtroom drama Primal Fear garnered him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor...
, Angela Bassett
Angela Bassett
Angela Evelyn Bassett is an American actress. She has become well known for her biographical film roles portraying real life women in African American culture, including singer Tina Turner in the motion picture What's Love Got to Do with It, as well as Betty Shabazz in the films Malcolm X and...
and Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
.
It was the final film performance for Brando and the only time he and De Niro appeared in a film together (although they had previously portrayed the same character, Vito Corleone
Vito Corleone
Vito Andolini Corleone is a fictional character and the main character in Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather, as well as Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather trilogy, where he was portrayed by Marlon Brando in The Godfather and by Robert De Niro in The Godfather Part II. Premiere Magazine listed Vito...
, in The Godfather
The Godfather
The Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...
and The Godfather Part II
The Godfather Part II
The Godfather Part II is a 1974 American gangster film directed by Francis Ford Coppola from a script co-written with Mario Puzo. The film is both a sequel and a prequel to The Godfather, chronicling the story of the Corleone family following the events of the first film while also depicting the...
respectively, for which they had both won Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
).
The screenplay was based upon a story by Daniel E. Taylor and Emmy
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
-winner Kario Salem.
Plot
After nearly being caught on a routine burglary, master safe-crackerSafe-cracking
Safe-cracking is the process of opening a safe without either the combination or key. It may also refer to a computer hacker's attempts to break into a secured computer system, in which case it may be shortened to "cracking" or black hat hacking....
Nick Wells (Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
) decides the time has finally come to retire from his illegal activities and focus on running his jazz club
Jazz club
A jazz club is a venue where the primary entertainment is the performance of live jazz music. Jazz clubs have been in large rooms in the eras of Orchestral jazz and big band jazz and when its popularity as a dance music was common...
. Nick's flight attendant girlfriend, Diane (Angela Bassett
Angela Bassett
Angela Evelyn Bassett is an American actress. She has become well known for her biographical film roles portraying real life women in African American culture, including singer Tina Turner in the motion picture What's Love Got to Do with It, as well as Betty Shabazz in the films Malcolm X and...
), encourages this decision, promising to fully commit to their relationship if he does indeed go straight. Nick, however, is lured into taking one final score by his fence
Fence (criminal)
A fence is an individual who knowingly buys stolen property for later resale, sometimes in a legitimate market. The fence thus acts as a middleman between thieves and the eventual buyers of stolen goods who may or may not be aware that the goods are stolen. As a verb, the word describes the...
Max (Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
). The job, worth a $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
4 million pay off to Nick, is to steal a valuable French scepter, which was being smuggled illegally into the United States through Canada but was accidentally discovered and detained at the Montréal Customs House
Custom House, Montreal
The Old Custom House is a building in Old Montreal. It is a National Historic Site of Canada.- Overview :Old Custom House, which dates back to 1836, originally housed Montreal's first custom house. It was designed by architect John Ostell and now houses the Pointe-à-Callière Museum's gift...
.
Max introduces Nick to Jack Teller (Edward Norton
Edward Norton
Edward Harrison Norton is an American actor, screenwriter, film director and producer. In 1996, his supporting role in the courtroom drama Primal Fear garnered him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor...
), an ambitious, albeit foolhardy, thief who has infiltrated the Custom's House and gained access to information regarding the security by pretending to be an intellectually disabled janitor named Brian. Nick hires his associate Steven (Jamie Harrold) to hack into the Custom Houses' security system to obtain the bypass codes allowing them to temporarily manipulate the alert protocols of the system during the heist. Steven is caught, however, by a corrupt system's administrator who extorts Nick for $50,000 for the information. More complications arise when they're forced to move up their time-table after the Custom's House becomes aware of the true value of the scepter and adds extra CCTV
Closed-circuit television
Closed-circuit television is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors....
camera's to monitor it while they make preparations to return it to its rightful owners.
Nick uses a sewer system tunnel to enter the Customs House basement as Jack uses the bypass codes to rig the cameras to shut off while Nick sneaks into the storage room. Jack, pretending to be Brian, keeps the guards and other janitor's occupied while Nick fills the enormous in-floor safe containing the scepter with water and inserts and then detonates a depth charge
Depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
to blow off the door. He quickly packs up the scepter in a carrying case to depart, but Jack double cross
Double cross
Double Cross may refer to:In film and television:* Double Cross , a film by Albert H. Kelley* Double Cross , a Bollywood action film* Double Cross , a Bollywood film...
es him and at gunpoint demands he hand over the scepter. Nick reluctantly gives up the carrying case and seconds later the alarm, rigged by Jack, alerts the entire compound to the heist. Nick darts for the sewer entrance he came in as Jack heads back upstairs, tucking the carrying case inside his janitor jumpsuit and slipping past the incoming police units responding to the burglary. Nick manages to elude the security guards chasing him through the sewer tunnels and escapes.
After making it to a bus station to flee the city, Jack calls Nick to gloat and is shocked to discover that Nick has in fact double crossed him by handing him a carrying case containing a fake scepter. Taunting Jack that "every cop in the city" is now looking for him, Nick hangs up and boards a boat with the real scepter as a shocked Jack broods over his situation. Later, Max smiles as he watches a news broadcast reporting a massive manhunt being organized to find Jack, the prime suspect, and an "unknown" accomplice. Nick then meets Diane at the airport as she returns from work, and she happily accepts a kiss and hug from him.
Cast
- Robert De NiroRobert De NiroRobert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
as Nick Wells; a veteran thief tempted by one last score to comfortably retire. - Edward NortonEdward NortonEdward Harrison Norton is an American actor, screenwriter, film director and producer. In 1996, his supporting role in the courtroom drama Primal Fear garnered him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor...
as Jack Teller; the inside man seeking to establish himself as a respected criminal. - Marlon BrandoMarlon BrandoMarlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
as Max; the fence that puts together the job. - Angela BassettAngela BassettAngela Evelyn Bassett is an American actress. She has become well known for her biographical film roles portraying real life women in African American culture, including singer Tina Turner in the motion picture What's Love Got to Do with It, as well as Betty Shabazz in the films Malcolm X and...
as Diane; Nick's flight attendant girlfriend. - Gary FarmerGary Farmer- History :Farmer was born in Ohsweken, Ontario into the Cayuga nation and Wolf Clan of the Haudenosaunee/Iroquois Confederacy. Farmer attended Syracuse University and Ryerson Polytechnic University, where he studied photography and film production....
as Burt; Nick's loyal associate who serves as security. - Jamie Harrold as Steven; a computer hacker that obtains the security codes for the score.
- Richard Waugh as Sapperstien; the system's administrator for IronClad Security.
- Jean-René Ouellet as André; head of security.
Production
During the production, Brando repeatedly argued with Oz and called him "Miss PiggyMiss Piggy
Miss Piggy is a Muppet character who was primarily played by Frank Oz on The Muppet Show. In 2001, Eric Jacobson began performing the role, although Oz did not officially retire until 2002....
". Oz later blamed himself for the tension and cited his tendency to be confrontational rather than nurturing in response to Brando's acting style.
Most of the conversations between De Niro and Brando are improvised
Improvisation
Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...
. Norton later admitted he wasn't very fond of the script and only did the film to work with De Niro and Brando, stating that he would have loved a script that "had three characters reading from the Montreal phone book, if the other two actors were Brando and DeNiro". This film was Brando's final completed film before his death in 2004. Two years after his death, he appeared in the film Superman Returns
Superman Returns
Superman Returns is a 2006 superhero film directed by Bryan Singer. It is the fifth and final installment in the original Superman film series and serves as a alternate sequel to Superman and Superman II by ignoring the events of Superman III and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace .The film stars...
in archive footage as Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
's father Jor-El
Jor-El
Jor-El is a fictional character, an extraterrestrial in the . He was created by the writer Jerry Siegel and the artist Joe Shuster, and he first appeared in a newspaper comic strip in 1939 as Superman's biological father....
, a role he played in the original 1978 film Superman and in the 1980 sequel Superman II
Superman II
Superman II is the 1980 sequel to the 1978 superhero film Superman and stars Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Terence Stamp, Ned Beatty, Sarah Douglas, Margot Kidder, and Jack O'Halloran. It was the only Superman film to be filmed by two directors...
.
Box office
In its first opening weekend, the film opened at #2 in the U.S. Box office raking in $19,018,807 USD, behind Legally BlondeLegally Blonde
Legally Blonde is a 2001 American comedy film directed by Robert Luketic, written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, and produced by Marc E. Platt...
.
Reception
The film received generally positive reviews with a rating of 73% fresh on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, based on 128 reviews with a rating average of 6.5/10. Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Peter Travers is an American film critic, who has written for, in turn, People and Rolling Stone. Travers also hosts a celebrity interview show called Popcorn on ABC News Now and ABCNews.com.-Career:...
, a film critic for Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, pointed out that when "two Don Corleones
Vito Corleone
Vito Andolini Corleone is a fictional character and the main character in Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather, as well as Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather trilogy, where he was portrayed by Marlon Brando in The Godfather and by Robert De Niro in The Godfather Part II. Premiere Magazine listed Vito...
team up", he expected "the kind of movie that makes people say, 'I'd pay to see these guys just read from the phone book.'" Instead, what he had to say about it was: "There's nothing you can't see coming in this flick, including the surprise ending. Quick, somebody get a phone book', apparently in reference to Norton's comment in an earlier interview about working with his two idols. Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
gave it three and a half stars out of four, calling it "the best pure heist movie in recent years."
Frank Oz on the DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
commentary defends the film as one in which he desired to take risks. Therefore, they started filming with an incomplete script and used several shooting methods that are usually frowned upon in the industry.
After a July 13, 2001 opening, the $68 million dollar film earned a gross domestic box office take of $71,107,711. Combined with the foreign box office, the worldwide total is $113,579,918.
Angela Bassett
Angela Bassett
Angela Evelyn Bassett is an American actress. She has become well known for her biographical film roles portraying real life women in African American culture, including singer Tina Turner in the motion picture What's Love Got to Do with It, as well as Betty Shabazz in the films Malcolm X and...
won a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for her portrayal of Wells' girlfriend, Diane.