Thief. James Caan is "Raised by the State".

I always feel like an old head when I say this, but they truly do not make movies like this anymore. Thief was written and directed by Michael Mann and released on March 27, 1981. This is widely considered one of James Caan's best roles, not only by the audience, but according to him as well. Caan was quoted as saying how difficult this character was to play because "The way I work, I like to be emotionally available, but this guy is available to nothing." James Caan displays the character's availability to nothing perfectly in his performance. Believe it or not, this was the second Michael Mann movie of the weekend for me, and I had a really hard time deciding whether to write about this movie or Heat (1995). Both are must-watches, but I thought this James Caan performance took the cake.

Tuesday Weld (Jessie) and James Caan (Frank)

The movie opens with an energetic Tangerine Dream soundtrack, throwing us right into the middle of a heist led by Frank, James Caan's character. Frank is a master thief and criminal who was "raised by the State". There are no words in the opening sequence, just the music introducing the kind of film you're getting yourself into. Frank went into prison as a young lad, serving a lengthier than expected 11 years in the joint. After the heist in the opening scene, the plot starts to thicken. Loneliness and isolation have followed him his entire life, now he wants a sense of belonging. In one of the more unforgettable scenes (in the image above), Frank says "You gotta forget time. You gotta not give a fuck if you live or die. You gotta get to where nothing means nothing." The delivery is raw and genuine while really embodying the nihilistic mindset that Frank chooses to live with. James' desire to change that mindset is what keeps him going throughout the film. After living a fractured lifestyle, he yearns for stability.

When a movie introduces a quote and weaves its theme around the message within, it's a very poetic thing. Michael Mann takes this idea home in a lot of his movies. Not only in this one, but in Heat as well.

Something else worth noting is the amount of attention to detail and focus on authenticity. On set, Michael Mann had legitimate criminals with safe-breaking expertise ensure the scenes were accurate and true to the game. Any director or writer can choose to introduce an idea, but when you're in the business of filmmaking, the whole objective is to be authentic and convince the audience. James Caan even called his mother all excited after successfully filming one of the more difficult safe-cracking scenes, which involved him using a high-temperature cutting device that uses a mixture of oxygen and steel rods to produce a flame capable of cutting through metal. "Mom, I think this is my best work!" Caan was genuinely proud of his performance, and deservedly so, considering how enjoyable the film was. That dedication to perfecting the role and all the details, by both Caan and Mann, is what separates this movie from the many neo-noirs of its time. Go give it a watch.