Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Pluskylang Great Film overall

Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Matho The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

bob the moo Nick Atwater and his gang of professional thieves have just completed another successful robbery for agent Roselyn Moore, however a rare moment of greed saw them take money they found as well as their target. Unfortunately for them this money is the property of the Chinese mob and, although Roselyn gives the money back as soon as she learns of this – the Chinese still intend to have them all killed to send a message. Meanwhile Nick has two very immediate problems – one of the gang has started messing up due to heavy drug use and his step-daughter is in trouble with the police herself. Neither problem in itself is insurmountable but with the Chinese, a crooked cop and a personal tragedy, things suddenly get infinitely more difficult.As a Homicide: Life on the Street fan, I was looking forward to seeing Thief when it came to the UK but managed to not notice its arrival on Sky until it was too late. Having spent ages waiting for a DVD release that never came I managed to get in touch with someone in the US who recorded it off TV for me (thank you!). This hadn't hyped it up for me but I was hoping that it would be good. The plot is solid from the start and I was engaged, thinking that this was going to be a fast paced six episodes. On the contrary though, the mini-series moved surprisingly slow and I'm not totally convinced that it had the depth to enable it to do so. I hate to always bring it into my reviews, but The Wire springs to mind – a slow pace but every hour is rammed with material and "action".Thief cannot compete on this level but it does still work for what it is. The crime plot is good but it doesn't all fit together as well as I think was the intension; the main heist is engaging enough but the Chinese mob and crooked cop bits don't really fit. It also ends rather abruptly as well – so I'm not sure if originally the writers were hoping for more episodes to try and run everything equally and dove-tail more effectively. What does work as part of the heist plot is the family material with Nick and his stepdaughter Tammi. I am used to seeing this sort of material be an afterthought – perhaps even a cynical attempt to wider the viewer demographic but neither of these appears to have been the case with Thief. Although not perfect in itself, this material does strengthen the story and make it more engaging than a straight heist series. However none of these things would have worked as well if it had not been for the single biggest asset in the series – Braugher.Of course I can be accused of bias since he was the reason I came to the show, but he did not disappoint. He lifts the material with a performance that is brooding at times, broken at others and, most importantly, he makes Nick convincing and real and goes beyond just being the character that each specific scene requires. I'm not describing it very well but at no point did he seem to be flicking a switch to act different things – it all seemed to just be the same person in different moments. He dominates the cast for this reason but the others do still do their bits well. Whitman is not perfect here but she benefits from working with Braugher – her character is annoying at times but her performance is good (and a nice surprise for this Arrested Development fan). Arias, Collins, Yoba and Yun Lee, Kim, Hamilton and Hall are all solid in support but Rooker is a disappointment. His character seemed incidental but was somehow pushed forward as a main one – his bits distract more than they add and his performance doesn't produce anything to improve this situation.Thief may not have been as good as I would have liked but it is still a solid, if slow mini-series. Attempts to vary what it is about are worthy even if some parts of it feel out of place or laboured but ultimately it still engages thanks to the usual high-quality work from Andre Braugher in the lead role.

gail_macgregor I was mesmerized by this show. I understand that it was filmed in New Orleans PRIOR to Katrina but incorporating Katrina made New Orleans a metaphor for what was going on in Nick's life. It was stunning and Braugher as usual was incredible. It's amazing that his dark characters are the ones that he seems to most brilliantly perform - - I agree that the scenes between him and the girl who plays his step-daughter were incredibly well-written and masterfully played. She rose to his level... One of Braugher's particular skills is establishing relationships on screen with other characters, these one-om-one in-your-face confrontations. He is exceptionally attuned to the other actor. When he is talking to one of his partners (the one with the wife and kid who gets caught at the end), they ducked their heads down and communicated as much by facial expression as by words. Stunning. It restore your faith in high-quality television.

liquidcelluloid-1 Network: FX; Genre: Crime, Drama; Content Rating: TV-MA (for strong language and violence); Perspective: Contemporary (star range: 1 - 4);Seasons Reviewed: Season 1 Nick Atwater (Andre Braugher, "Homicide", "Gideon's Crossing") leads a gang of well organized, highly talented thieves in post-Katrina New Orleans. They take from bank vaults mostly, working undetected, until one day they are spotted stealing from the Chinese mafia, one of their own gets greedy and deviates from the objective and Nick's home life with his new wife (Dina Myer) and her daughter Tammi (Mae Whitman, "Arrested Development") is tragically turned upside down. All of this threatens their biggest score yet: stealing 40 million government dollars from the belly of a passenger plane 30,000 feet in the air.After finding success with over-the-top dramas "Nip/Tuck", "The Shield" and "Rescue Me", the patented FX absurdity gets dialed down in "Thief". My first instinct is to rate the show lower than it probably deserves. I'm so used to FX jumping in my face that it requires us to plug "Thief" back in with the rest of the network dramas to see how good it really is. A more methodical character-driven drama taking us inside a criminal organization than a white-knuckle crime thriller, "Thief" is the most like HBO's "The Sopranos" than anything else on the line-up. There is even a gruesomely clever torture sequence involving Linda Hamilton and a long thread of firecracker cable in here.In the thief crime sub-genre that also includes this year's profoundly lame NBC/Doug Liman project "Heist", "Thief" does it as well as I've seen, but at the same time it doesn't break out of the genre. It doesn't have its own unique voice. The show plays it surprisingly safe, unfolding its story crisply and more than competently, but also without any big surprises, twists or turns. It goes where it needs to go, using characters that it needs to get there, but little more.Ironically, what we all came here to see, the big heist, fails to generate as much excitement as the show's apparent B-story - which involves the impossibly trying relationship between Nick and stepdaughter Tammi. This family dynamic is usually a tack-on story networks use to bring in a larger demographic and yet here it is played out with electrifying results. Braugher we already know as one of TV's most talented actors who can't get a break (more on him later), but Whitman is a real discovery. She plays this with a heart-breaking emotional realism well beyond her years. You'd imagine it would be tough to steal the show from Andre Braugher, but Whitman does it. The scenes between the two of them are emotional fireworks.It is Tammi's story that moved me the most and that is the one where we actually feel the most is at stake even though it has nothing to do with Chinese assassins and mid-air heists. Fortunately, the show knows what it has and Witman's story is folded nicely into the main story without a missed beat.The other thing that keeps "Thief" compelling is the simple brilliance of Andre Braugher in the lead. The man doesn't know the meaning of the word obvious. Nothing is big, nothing is overplayed. It is a quiet, sophisticated, even hypnotic, performance where on the page there could just as easily have been nothing. Braugher has once again created a character that keeps the audience guessing about where his loyalty actually lies: the money, the team, his own code of ethics, his new stepdaughter or his wife. In contrast to Braugher is Michael Rooker as an over-the-top brutal caricature of a cop who screams like he'd rather be in a broad Stephen Bochco series than in a character drama like this.Where "Rescue Me" and "Nip/Tuck" are on fire, "Thief" is lukewarm. Even Bochco's "Over There" was a riskier and more inventive series, before it collapsed on itself. As every storyline races to the end, the show's focus gets smaller. There are a lot of irons in the fire, maybe too many, and not a balanced payoff. It would have helped if "Thief" fleshed out the rest of the team members a little more, but hopefully that will be something to settle in future seasons. It isn't as fully realized and clever as "The Sopranos" and doesn't have the silently simmering tension of Showtime's "Sleeper Cell", but "Thief" becomes a careful, well-made, visually gorgeous heist series with two spectacular lead performances to keep it moving.* * ½ / 4

yancey-3 Most of the people who posted here really understand the dynamics of this kind of show. I can tell we have some real promising fans for the show already. For those of you who aren't as enthusiastic as the millions of other viewers thats to be expected. Every one has different tastes. I can tell you this- that given the chance this show will prove to be a very compelling and exciting show to watch every week. This coming from an actor who is in the show and has a biased opinion. I'm honest, and I can proudly say that by the end of 6 episodes you will be left wanting more.I'm Yancey Arias I play Gabo AKA Gabriel. I want to share with all of you some details about each episode without giving too much in the future Episodes. The first episode was meant to establish the intense pace and risky conditions of which these guys must work and live in to pull off a score. In the whirl wind of the storm people get hurt and relationships are forged and broken. The second episode begins to tell you how those relationships are affected by what happened in episode one. In each future episode you will get to know each character much more intimately. It is also the introduction of the biggest most daring heist that will go down in the air and on the ground. So episodes 3 and 4 will involve all the challenges that could possibly come up in order to plan such a score. The noose gets tighter around each characters neck, and the body count will increase by the end of all 6 episodes. Who will it be? Well you'll have to watch wont ya.;)Episodes 5 and 6 is the Big Bang and the score is in full effect!!!! But you cant miss episode 3 and 4 simply because you wont feel the impact as hard. Follow the journey my friends. Trust me; Andre and the rest of us will keep you fully entertained in all the episodes. So you don't want to miss anything, All of your questions will be answered by the end, and you will be completely enthralled by the shows quality at all levels. Just give this show a chance the way you gave "THE SHIELD" and "NIP TUCK" a chance. Tell all your friends to watch. The Reviews are awesome. More people need to watch this great show. I'm not just saying this cause I'm in the show. I happen to love movies such as Heat, Oceans 11, Colateral, and Ronin. If your like me then you'll be all into our show "THIEF". Every Tuesday Nights at 10pm on FX. If you have (Dish Network) then it's on at 7pm Pacific 10pm eastern. You can Also go to FXnetworks site and visit our THIEF message Board write in and express your support. A good old fashion letter to the FX studio to express your support is always welcomed. Many Blessings to all of you.Yancey Arias