Nick Nolte’s current problems with alcohol shouldn’t obscure the fact that this is one of the very few genuinely great actors in current world cinema, whose presence automatically makes a film worth watching. This is just as well, as The Good Thief doesn’t have much else going for it: a flashy remake of 1950s French classic Bob Le Flambeur, it features Nolte’s grizzled expat-American gambler planning an audacious heist on a Monte Carlo casino. Despite the star’s best efforts (“You should support me in my battle against my addictions,” he growls) and a nifty cameo from an unbilled major British thesp (initials R.F.), viewer interest rapidly wanes as the plot entangles in needlessly byzantine complexities.
See jigsawlounge.co.uk for full review.