"The Good Thief" is one of the better cat-and-mouse, con and heist films that I have seen in a long time.  The movie is marked by fine acting with interesting characters, great written dialogue, terrific music, great scenery from Monte Carlo, and the necessary plot twists and and tricks to keep the audience constantly guessing. However, I want to stress the words mood and style in my review of this film, because above all else, it is these qualities generated during the entire story that adds so much to the effectiveness of this film.  Director Neil Jordan is an expert at setting a distinctive mood and style to tell the story and by doing this, it pulls the audience in deep and gets them totally engrossed with the film.

       We are immediately introduced to Bob who is played wonderfully by Nolte as a down and out, drug-addicted thief and gambler.  Because of his past robberies and reputation, Bob is constantly being followed by Roger, one obsessed police officer who can't wait to catch Bob committing a crime and put him behind bars.  One of Bob's cohorts learns that many real paintings are secretly hid in a vault rather than actually being displayed in the posh casino in Monte Carlo.  The wheels start to spin on a plan to steal the paintings and Bob gets all his usual fellow co-workers together to put the plan in action.  Roger suspects that Bob is up to something and begins to try to figure out what he is up to.  Without giving anything else away, the rest of the film centers on the group of thieves trying to disguise what they are attempting to do while the police chief frantically tries to figure out what they are up to.

     As I said earlier, the mood and style of the film adds so much dimension to the telling of the story.  And the exotic location of Monte Carlo as the backdrop of the cat and mouse games that are going on just enriches the film even more.  The smoky, eloquent casinos filled with rich men and beautiful women amidst all the cons going on within the dark shadows outside gives the film a rich, hypnotic feel.  The cinematographer on this film gets lots of kudos.

      But while the story is filled with many unknown twists and deceit, it is also more of a character based film as well.  Nolte as a heroin addicted thief with a good heart is nothing less than perfect.  Nolte was born to play Bob, a self-destructive man who seems hell-bent on losing everything but keeps coming back for more. Of course, based on Nolte's recent run-in with the law and his unflattering mug photo, I suspect this part may have been more suited to him than usual.  And all the other actors seem perfect for their roles as well.  Tchéky Karyo as Roger who is the policeman trying to catch Bob is very engaging as the frustrated cop who seems to be taking all the wrong turns just when he thinks he has his culprit caught.  And Nino Kukhanidze as the young prostitute who Bob saves from a mean pimp gives a very real and engaging performance.  I suspect we will soon see more of her in future films.

      I really liked this movie and was totally engrossed watching it from beginning to end.  Some critics have characterized this film as slow, but the deliberate pace is perfect to let the story play out and for the audience to learn a lot about many of the characters.  As opposed to the current film Confidence which is an in your face slick movie, The Good Thief is a much more low-keyed and intelligent film.