The Brink's Job

source: The Brink's Job

William Friedkin directed this period piece/caper-comedy, adapted from Noel Behn's non-fiction book "Big Stick-Up at Brinks", chronicling the 1950 robbery of Brink's headquarters, which netted the crooks some $3M. Often-filmed heist gets a joshing tone this time out, cast with actors comfortable with each other and familiar to audiences in these particular characterizations. There are no surprises; everything has been preconceived for a safe, nondescript entertainment. For his part, Friedkin displays a light, casual touch, but the broader moments of comedy don't really come off (slapstick doesn't seem to be this director's thing). Peter Falk heads up the amateur squad of thieves; he's right at home here, and his repartee with Peter Boyle, Allen Garfield, Paul Sorvino and Gena Rowlands as his wife is smooth...so smooth, in fact, that the film slides right out of the memory. ** from ****

One of the least well-known films in William Friedkin's illustrious career, THE BRINK'S JOB is a comedy caper based on a real-life heist that took place in 1950. The strong cast is headed by a thoroughly engaging Peter Falk, taking a break from COLUMBO, and ably supported by the likes of Peter Boyle and Warren Oates. This is very much a character-based comedy with the occasional bit of slapstick and pratfall to see it through. If you're looking for a fast pace and lots of hijinks then you'll be disappointed. However, it's likeable enough and has a great sense of time and place, so there's that to recommend it.

William Friedkin directs this period heist black comedy based on true facts and it is very different from the rest of his output. Peter Falks plays Tony Pino a small time Boston petty crook. Even after being released from jail he and his bumbling gang which includes brother in law Vinnie (Allen Garfield) struggle to pull off a decent job such as robbing a bubble gum factory. Pino notices that the local Brink's warehouse has lax security. When he cases the joint he notices that Brink's is too stingy to spend money in having a decent security system and he can just walk in. Their promotion of having an impregnable fortress is just baloney. In 1950 Pino and his men stole over a million dollars in cash. FBI director J Edgar Hoover (Sheldon Leonard) took a personal interest in the robbery thinking it was the work of communists. He spent $25 million to try to apprehend the gang. Friedkin displays a lightness of touch but the script has paper thin characters. The comedy and the heist needed more emphasis such as in the Italian film Persons Unknown, later remade by Louis Malle as Crackers. The casting of Peter Falk and Gena Rowlands harks back to the John Cassavetes dramas.

Would never go as far as saying this film is a forgotten gem ! .... but it is still enjoyable and that is down to the likeable cast and the easy going feel of them film ... Recommended for a one time watch , pretty forgettable but it has a certain charm to it which leaves a smile on your face !

It's amazing how many WF films creep in among his others. Only seeing this movie for the first time, the other week, I only knew beforehand, from reading the cover, Friedkin directed this cute little crime flick. The movie which has a inventory of topline actors, who all give wonderful performances is based on fact, another thing I didn't know, about the two bid crooks, who pulled off the greatest bank heist in history, a few hiccups, prefore, as blundering their way to their objective, in some quite hard to believe blunders, which I'm frightened to believe this is fact too. This robbery had attracted much notoriety, the public praising and admiring the robbers, who are much suspect than the usual suspects, and are brought in, and I think you can gather what results, or might not result, where some astounding and approving facts revealed later, as if rooting for these guys,which is hard quite not too, despite, their illicitness. Falk is just super fantastic in this, an acting force to be reckoned with, while I liked Allen Garfield a lot in this too. The film is patchy here and there, and takes a while to get to where it's going. I was actually quite disappointed for the first third of it, but it picked up. For me, it's one of those films, where earlier in the peace, you really don't know where it's going, but as I said, it's a cute little film, and worth the rental fee. Don't snub it. My recommendation.

What's impressive about "The Brink's Job" is that it's a true story that also manages to be a lighthearted comedy. I had never heard of the Great Brink's Robbery until watching this movie, but William Friedkin managed to turn it into a fun story. Peter Falk, Peter Boyle, Warren Oates, Gena Rowlands, Paul Sorvino, Sheldon Leonard* and the rest of the cast turn in fine performances. It was a pleasant surprise to see Malachy McCourt (the brother of "Angela's Ashes" author Frank McCourt) in a supporting role. It so happened that I had watched this just a few hours after watching the horror-fantasy flick "Q", which also featured him in a supporting role. It was a pure coincidence that I rented two movies that happened to star him. All in all, a good movie. I suspect that they had fun filming it. Really different turn for Friedkin after "The French Connection" and "The Exorcist". *Put another way, the movie stars Columbo, Frankenstein's monster, one of the Wild Bunch, the woman under the influence, Henry Kissinger and the producer of several TV shows (and namesake of the main characters on "The Big Bang Theory").

I've been trying to pick up a VHS of this flick for 2 years and finally won it on an auction. It was on AMC a few years back and I caught about 30 minutes of it. I was so intrigued that I started to look for a chance to buy it. I thoroughly enjoyed this film, a great cast with a young Peter Falk leading the way. Peter Boyle was realistic in his portrayal of the money launderer. Used VHS tapes are out there and although this robbery occurred in the 50's there is enough suspense and a ton of surprises for you. Sometimes a true story beats the best fiction a writer can come up with.

After the dismal box office and critical reception of SORCERER (1977), William Friedkin went for a change of pace with this light-hearted piece which, however, proved that his previous misstep with was no fluke: in fact, his career never really picked up after that costly bit of self-indulgence (even so, I’ve only just acquired the director’s fair update of his own THE FRENCH CONNECTION [1971], namely TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A. [1985])! Anyway, this concerns – in a somewhat uneasy comedic vein – the famous January 1950 robbery from the Boston branch of the titular depository of payrolls destined to various key firms; incidentally, the same events had previously been depicted in the 1976 TV-movie BRINKS: THE GREAT ROBBERY. Its coup is in the meticulous period reconstruction (which earned production designer Dean Tavoularis, already responsible for BONNIE AND CLYDE [1967] and “The Godfather” films among others, an Oscar nod) – Friedkin himself had earlier demonstrated his prowess in this area with another comedy about an equally notorious incident i.e THE NIGHT THEY RAIDED MINSKY’S (1968). Interestingly, too, the cast of daring crooks here comprises several reliable character actors of the era – Peter Falk, Peter Boyle, Allen Garfield, Paul Sorvino and Warren Oates; 1940s Hollywood veteran Sheldon Leonard turns up towards the end as J. Edgar Hoover(!), but Gena Rowlands is wasted in the role of Falk’s wife. The comedy revolves around Falk and Garfield’s bumbling duo – the former is the mastermind and the other his often resentful relative/underling. After a number of ‘jobs’ go wrong (with Falk even doing a 6-year stretch in jail) or the ‘funds’ don’t last (one amusing sequence has them following a payroll van around and lifting a handful of money bags with every stop it makes – since the officer left to ostensibly guard them is apparently in continuous slumber!), they set their mind on robbing the Brink’s warehouse. After studying the place from the outside (such as time of arrival and departure of the various employees, and their toilet habits!), Falk manages to get inside the building to get an idea of how it’s set-up; with the place left unguarded during the night, he’s able to break in with relative ease to look for possible alarm systems and determine the model of the safe – the former is an ancient device, but the latter is up-to-date and unassailable. Oates, a war veteran, proposes to dent its surface with a bazooka fired from the roof of the opposite building(!) – however, saner heads prevail and they organize a good old-fashioned stick-up (complete with the gang putting on grotesque masks). Eventually, the sum they make off with is over $1.5 million – which, at the inflation rate of the day, was considered the biggest haul in U.S. history…thus bringing the F.B.I. in on the case. I’m not familiar with the facts of the real case but, here, the denouement is rather unexciting as Oates is brought to justice for another (minor) theft and, since he has a very sick sister and can’t possibly make the whole jail-term, he spills the beans on The Brink’s Job! Still, the gang apparently had the last laugh as, in spite of Hoover’s promises, a very small percentage of the money was retrieved over the years (as per the postscript) – and, following the lapse of their individual sentences, one assumes each picked up where they had left off… Ultimately, the film is O.K. (though curiously undistinguished among the spate of heist pictures made during this cynical era) – and especially disappointing given the intriguing subject matter and the welter of talent involved (including a script by THE WILD BUNCH [1969]’s Walon Green).

A neat little crime caper, and I wonder why we never see it on any of the cable networks. Falk was great, as were Peter Boyle and Warren Oates, and believe or not, Paul Sorvinio was in this one too! Realistic, and pretty honest.