piersedarcy’s review published on Letterboxd:
Wes Anderson had an established style long before he even had the means to showcase said style. While this isn't as overtly Wes Anderson as the rest of his entries I think that comes down to budget and studio restrictions. Wes most certainly knew what he wanted to do and his obsessive attention to detail is still evident, from the set design to costume and camera positioning it is undeniably a Wes Anderson picture, maybe it could be called Wes Lite ?!
In terms of story I thought it was pretty decent, the characters were for the most part interesting bar some over acting from both Wilsons, and of course there's James Caan (who I'm now convinced is in fact a mastermind thief in real life). It's so impressive to see that such a young director like Anderson was at the time this was made, was so in tune with his own unique style so early on in his career. Kudos.