Michael Mann made his feature directorial debut with this stylish, noirish crime thriller. James Caan stars as professional criminal Frank, who makes a living cracking safes but secretly longs to lead a normal life with a wife and child. He gets in bed with some unsavory characters--even more unsavory than himself--to achieve his dream, and winds up having to pay the price. There's a tense safecracking sequence which recalls Rififi, and an incredibly violent and powerful climax. But it's the stuff in between, as Caan gives one of his finest performances, that makes the movie as sad and poignant as it is. I liked it a whole lot this first time, but I can already see myself liking it even more on future viewings.

Pretty cool and slick Michael Mann picture about a high-end thief who wants to have a normal suburban life, but gets involved with the mob. They don't want him to quit and hurt people to convince him to stay. James Caan as the thief is very good at playing him as a total jerk. The guy is pretty unlikable, really. However, you have sympathy for him as he's trying to overcome his past. BTW, is "slick Michael Mann" redundant?

James Caan plays the toughest motherfucker ever. Full Stop, no qualifiers. He is literally THE LAST GUY IN THE WORLD YOU WANNA FUCK WITH.

Part of the Michael Mann Marathon

Thief was Michael Mann's first cinematic entry and its a showcase for all he would become famous for in most of his movies. Fast pacing, stylish music and deadpan heroes who almost always end up in tragedy.
This is almost a dry run for Heat, with James Caan playing an highly experienced jewel thief who wants one more score to be free of crime and grab his dream of a normal life. Of course things don't go to plan. With a fantastic score by Tangerine Dream, this is a purely 80s movie. James Caan has rarely been better.

Solid early 80s crime movie, it uses ambient music and a neon font that was cutting edge before 'Drive' made it retro. They could actually remake this with Gosling and call it Drive 2.

Bonus: Dennis Farina is always good.

Super stylish steely direction of super stylish film. Steely atmospherics and super synthy music from Tangerine Dream. The acting and the story itself are pretty fair but when a film is as stylishly super as this superior thriller everything's super and spectacular and shit. The dialogue is almost like another language at times such is the fluent use of idiomatic techniques and American criminal vernacular; this just makes it even more trendy and compelling. Michael Mann is strangely abstract in his portrayal of safe-cracking - his film is a cold. hard world which I am struggling to do justice in this slipshod review

Essentially, if you've seen Drive, you've seen this

Michael Mann made his feature directorial debut with this stylish, noirish crime thriller. James Caan stars as professional criminal Frank, who makes a living cracking safes but secretly longs to lead a normal life with a wife and child. He gets in bed with some unsavory characters--even more unsavory than himself--to achieve his dream, and winds up having to pay the price. There's a tense safecracking sequence which recalls Rififi, and an incredibly violent and powerful climax. But it's the stuff in between, as Caan gives one of his finest performances, that makes the movie as sad and poignant as it is. I liked it a whole lot this first time, but I can already see myself liking it even more on future viewings.

"I can see my money is still in your pocket, which is from the yield of my labor."

Masculinity defined. Less a crime story than an examination of a lifestyle, Mann concludes the picture with the crystallization of a philosophy.

Good goddamn do I love Michael Mann. I had been meaning to see this for a long time, but it took a random late-night Netflix excursion to finally get it done. Thief is a wonderfully stylish heist movie, it's as brutal as it is pensive. Incredible score by Tangerine Dream and James Caan shines as the professional burglar whose cool, collected professionalism belies a seething rage ready to explode at a moment's notice. Loved loved loved this movie.

Another Michael Mann classic. What you'd expect from him. Realistic, and well researched.

I now know where Nicolas Winding Refn got everything for "Drive."

Watched on Netflix Instant. Really impressive early Michael Mann film. Caan plays a careful thief who steps outside his comfort zone to try for one last huge score to retire on. Kind of a basic setup but Mann puts his own spin on it. Got a Rififi vibe from it, I think they even went fully silent at one point, though obviously not for as long as the sequence in Rififi. Good stuff.