King of Thieves: Michael Caine Recruits the Old Gang

They were like a real-life Going in Style, but these retirement aged crooks had sharper elbows. They also pulled off what is considered the biggest heist job in British history. This is the third film version of the unlikely Hatton Garden caper, but the first to reach our shores in any noticeable way. Crime does not pay, not even for seniors, but at least it provides a way to pass the time in James Marsh’s King of Thieves, which releases today on DVD.

Brian Reader didn’t exactly go straight, but he got out of the game relatively on top. Out of his past “known associates,” John “Kenny” Collins is somewhat comfortable, but Terry Perkins, Danny Jones, and Carl Wood are largely scuffling. When “Basil,” a socially awkward security specialist comes to Reader with a potentially lucrative score (a safety deposit company catering to gem merchants), he has no trouble recruiting his old accomplices. The question is whether the recently bereaved Reader’s heart is really in it. Just try doing him dirty and see what happens.

Details of the Hatton Garden heist are still coming to light, even at this late date. Regardless, the Rififi-esque caper business is pretty entertaining, but Joe Penhall’s screenplay focuses more on the subsequent double-crosses.

Of course, the whole point of King is watching Sir Michael Caine do his thing as Reader. He has been stealing jewels in films since before you were born, so show some respect. He’s Michael Bloomin’ Caine and he is terrific as Reader. When he gets hacked off, all that old magic comes back with a vengeance.

As usual, Ray Winstone is as compulsively watchable as ever as the brawler, Jones, while Jim Broadbent takes advantage of the opportunity to finally chew some scenery as the goonish Perkins. Tom Courtenay plays Collins as a bit of a silly duffer, but it is just embarrassing to see Michael Gambon stuck as the butt of jokes as Billy “The Fish” Lincoln, the incontinent fence. Still, there is Caine and Winstone.

Clearly, nobody better understands the appeal of this greybeard A-Team than Marsh because he openly invites nostalgia by incorporating clips from their classic street-smart swinging sixties films, most especially the original Italian Job. British pop-jazz vocalist Jamie Cullum also maintains the cool retro vibe with his groovy, brassy cover of The Killers’ “The Man.”

Harry Brown is still probably the ultimate Michael Caine film, but it is great to see him strut his way through a capery lark, more or less in the tradition of Italian Job and Silver Bears. Recommended for fans of heist movies and the accomplished cast, King of Thieves releases today (3/26) on DVD and BluRay.

Little Women: The Original Fab Four

Louisa May Alcott never objected when people confused her with Jo March, her most famous character. She even answered mail addressed to the second March daughter. Of course, Ms. March remains one of the most roundly beloved figures in American literature, who helped spring-board Katharine Hepburn’s career when she played the role in George Cukor’s acclaimed 1933 film. Happily, the charm of Alcott’s story remains undiminished in Heidi Thomas’s warm and reassuring adaptation of Little Women (promo here), directed by Vanessa Caswill, which premieres this Sunday on PBS’s Masterpiece.

It is Little Women, so you should know the story by now. There are indeed four March daughters, one for each Beatle. Josephine “Jo” March is the second oldest. She is a bit of a tomboy with a quick temper. She is not necessarily the most practical of the March sisters, but she is the strongest. The oldest, Margaret “Meg” is considered a beauty with lady-like manners, but she will be more egalitarian than her society friends would expect. In some ways, Elizabeth “Beth” is Jo’s opposite. She is shy but has a talent for brokering peace among the family. Amy Curtis March is the youngest and often quite a handful, because she always expects to be the center of attention.

Their mother Margaret “Marmee” maintains the household and provides for them as well as she can while their father is serving as a Union Army chaplain. They will also welcome their new neighbor Theodore “Laurie” Laurence into their constant company. Although born to wealth, Laurence has been deeply touched family tragedy. However, his friendship with the March Sisters helps him better relate to his grandfather.

This take on Little Women is particularly well-cast, fortunately starting first and foremost with Maya Hawke. Her resemblance to her mother Uma Thurman is striking, but that is the least of what she brings to the table. Hawke completely nails the indomitable Jo March spirit and powers the production with her appropriately youthful energy. In fact, Little Women really ought to make her a star.

Laurie Laurence requires some tricky balancing, but Jonah Hauer-King is quite sure-footed in the part, developing some crackling chemistry with Hawke’s Jo. We find ourselves hoping they will work out as a couple, even though…you know. Annes Elwy turns Beth March’s Camille scenes with impressive dignity and understatement, while Kathryn Newton’s Amy March pouts like nobody’s business. Naturally, Angela Lansbury gets prominent billing for playing the Marches’ snobby Aunt, but she is rather a tame shadow of Dame Maggie Smith’s Dowager Countess. On the other hand, the great Michael Gambon makes the most of his brief screen time as Laurence’s grandfather. Throughout it all, Emily Watson anchors the film as the heroically dedicated Marmee.

There are good reasons why Alcott’s Little Women has been so enduringly popular, which are abundantly clear in Thomas’s adaptation, especially the complete lack of cynicism. It is a big, messy tale of family love and strife that makes no apologies for its heartfelt nostalgia. Frankly, it is quite remarkable how refreshing it is to reconnect with the March family (and the Laurences). The only quibble is the awkward way the series has been divided over two nights for American television, with the first installment clocking in at a mere one-hour, but the second instalment running nearly two hours, on the dot, but that is a minor point (especially considering how many viewers will wait to binge it later). Very highly recommended, Little Women airs this Sunday and the following Sunday (5/13 & 5/20) as part of the current season of Masterpiece on most PBS stations nationwide.

Restless: The Cold War for American Public Opinion

Who would benefit from keeping America out of the war in Europe?  It is a question that will preoccupy a former British secret agent all her life.  She was supposed to be set-up in a manner that would badly discredit the British intelligence community with the American public.  She was also supposed to be dead.  However, the Russian exile has more lives than a cat in the Sundance Channel’s two part mini-series adaption of William Boyd’s Restless (promo here), which kicks off this Friday night.

When professional Cambridge student Ruth Gilmartin pays a visit to her mother’s country home, she finds the woman in the throes of paranoia, or so she presumes.  Sally Gilmartin claims there are people watching the house from the surrounding tree-line.  It all has something to do with her service as a spy during WWII.  At the time, she went by her real name, Eva Delectorskya.  Initially, this is all too much for Gilmartin to accept, but the site of a shadowy figure in the woods gives her pause.  Reading her mother’s file, she gets the gist of the story viewers see in periodic flashbacks.

A former Russian aristocrat, Delectorskya is recruited by British intelligence in France after her brother is murdered by Fascist thugs.  Lucas Romer will be her handler.  Although he is not inclined towards any sort of emotional involvement, sparks will eventually fly between them.  Delectorskya turns out to be a natural agent, but her missions are often rather dodgy.  Yet, somehow disaster always turns into success, at least within the agency bureaucracy.

Transferring to New York, they both assume roles at a dubious wire service that specializes in releasing disinformation to mislead the Germans.  From time to time, a little field work is required to plant an especially sensitive story.  Delectorskya assumed that was all she was doing when she accepts her fateful assignment to Albuquerque.  Unfortunately, she soon discovers someone at the agency sold her out.  The consequences of that ill-fated mission will linger for decades.

What more can you ask of a miniseries that gives you Charlotte Rampling buying a shotgun?  She plays Delectorskya/Gilmartin like the strong, intelligent woman she would have to be.  Downton Abbey’s Michelle Dockery also looks the part of her daughter, but her shocked incredulity goes on far too long.  In fact, the first installment does not lack for exposition, but the second part pays off with interest.

When the elements are all in place, Restless becomes quite a rich feast of skullduggery, helmed with a fair degree of style by Edward Hall.  As young and old Romer respectively, Rufus Sewell and Michael Gambon might not exactly be the spitting image of each other, but they are definitely at home with the murky intrigue.  A strong ensemble from top to bottom, character actor Adrian Scarborough makes a particularly strong impression as Delectorskya’s ally, Morris Devereux.  However, as the resilient young Delectorskya, Hayley Atwell is a bit pedestrian, lacking the Mata Hari allure one would expect from her.  Still, she becomes Charlotte Rampling, which is something.

While Boyd’s screen adaptation of his own novel is smart and tense down the stretch, his nondescript title never seems particular apt, but no matter.   Restless is a quality period production long on atmosphere that should satisfy for regular viewers of Masterpiece Mystery and BBC America’s mystery-thrillers. Recommended for fans of British television and espionage junkies, Restless begins this Friday (12/7) on the Sundance Channel and concludes one week later (12/14).