Though it bears little resemblance to the original 1969 thriller starring Michael Caine, the 2003 remake of The Italian Job stands on its own as a caper comedy that's well above average. The title's a misnomer--this time it's actually a Los Angeles job--but the action's just as exciting as it propels a breezy tale of honor and dishonor among competing thieves. Inheriting Caine's role as ace heist-planner Charlie Croker, Mark Wahlberg plays straight-man to a well-cast team of accomplices, including Mos Def, Jason Statham, and scene-stealer Seth Green in a variation of the role originally played by Noel Coward. As the daughter of Croker's ill-fated mentor (Donald Sutherland), Charlize Theron is recruited to double-cross a double-crosser (Edward Norton in oily villain mode), and once again, speedily versatile Mini Coopers play a pivotal role in director F. Gary Gray's exhilarating car-chase climax. It's perhaps the greatest product placement in movie history, and just as fun the second time around. --Jeff Shannon



Led by John Bridger ('Donald Sutherland' ) and Charlie Croker ('Mark Wahlberg' ) a team is assembled for one last heist to steal $35 million in gold bars from a heavily guarded safe in Venice, Italy. After successfully pulling off the heist, a team member, Steve (Edward Norton), driven by greed and jealousy, arranges to take the gold for himself and eliminate the remaining members of the group. Thinking the team dead, he returns to L.A. with the gold. Charlie and the survivors of this betrayal follow Steve L.A. to exact revenge against the traitor. Charlie enlists the help of John Bridger's daughter, Stella (Charlize Theron) - a professional safe cracker, to get revenge. With Stella and the hacking skills of Lyle (Seth Green), the explosives skills of "Left Ear" (Mos Def), and the driving skills of "Handsome" Rob (Jason Statham) this new team plans and executes a daring heist that weaves through the freeways and subways of L.A. Written by CKnapp




A gang of robbers, lead by career criminal Charlie Croker, create the largest traffic jam in Los Angeles history, giving them time to pull off a theft of gold bullion. They get away in their Mini Coopers, which are small enough to drive on sidewalks so they can make a clean get away before the traffic jam clears. Written by Mark Cameron




After Charlie and his crew pull off a picture perfect heist of tens of millions of dollars worth of gold in Venice, Italy they must overcome the betrayal of one of their own who in turn kills another teammate to reclaim their ill-gotten gains in yet another high tech heist. Written by FMJ_Joker




In Venice, Italy, a team of expert theives pulls a daring heist of 35 million dollars in bars of gold. One of the theives betrays his companions and swipes the gold for himself. One year later, in Los Angeles, the surviving team members create a smart and devious plan to steal back the gold and get their revenge on the traitor. Written by Michael




The plan was flawless... the job was executed perfectly... the escape was clean. The only threat mastermind thief Charlie Croker never saw coming was a member of his own crew. After pulling off an amazing gold bullion heist from a heavily guarded palazzo in Venice, Italy, Charlie and his gang -- inside man Steve, computer genius Lyle, wheelman handsome Rob, explosives expert Left-Ear and veteran safecracker John Bridger - can't believe when one of them turns out to be a double-crosser. Enter Stella, a beautiful nerves-of-steel safecracker, who joins Charlie and his former gang when they follow the backstabber to California, where they plan to re-steal the gold by tapping into Los Angeles' traffic control system, manipulating signals and creating one of the biggest traffic jams in LA history. Now the job isn't the payoff, it's about payback. Written by averagefilms





SYNOPSIS

In Venice, retired safecracker John Bridger (Sutherland) calls his daughter Stella Bridger (Theron) and tells her that he will participate in his final heist. John then meets up with Charlie Croker (Wahlberg) before setting the heist into motion. Their team consists of themselves and four others: Steve (Norton) is the "inside man", Handsome Rob (Statham) is a getaway driver, Left Ear (Def) is an explosives expert, and Lyle (Green) is a technical expert. The heist is a success, but Steve betrays them all by taking the gold for himself; he kills John Bridger and leaves the rest of the team for dead.

A year later in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Stella is using her safe cracking expertise to break into vaults as an assistant to law enforcement personnel. The team has tracked Steve down, and Charlie recruits Stella to participate with the team in stealing the gold from Steve since she has the required skill and motivation. The team travels to Los Angeles, California to begin their surveillance of Steve's house and plan the heist. Meanwhile, Steve attempts to sell his gold through a money launderer (Krutonog), but kills him when the launderer begins asking questions about the source of the gold. However, the money launderer is a cousin of a local Ukrainian Mafia boss (Krupa), who subsequently seeks vengeance for his cousin's murder. The team's initial plan is to have Steve stood up on a date with Stellawho posed as a cable repair woman to get into Steve's house and locate his safewhile the team would break into Steve's house, load the gold into three Mini Coopers modified by Rob's mechanical friend Wrench (Franky G), and use hacked traffic lights to make their escape. However, Charlie is forced to call the plan off because of a local party, which would witness the heist's execution. To maintain her cover, Stella goes on the date with Steve, but he figures out her real identity. Charlie then confronts Steve and promises that he will recover the stolen gold.

Now aware that Charlie and his team are alive, Steve makes preparations to move the gold. He obtains three armored trucks and a helicopter from which to monitor the trucks' transit. To counter the shell game, Charlie uses Lyle's control over the Los Angeles traffic system to isolate the one truck containing the gold, which Lyle manages to find, and gridlocks the city. The team then steals the gold from the truck and escape in their trio of Mini Coopers. Steve and his hired security guards pursue them through Los Angeles, and the team manages to lose them all, except Steve. He follows Charlie, but falls into a trap: Charlie has already informed the Ukrainian that Steve is the person they want, and Charlie gives the Ukrainian a portion of the stolen gold. Steve is taken away by the gangsters, and the team split up the remaining gold and raise a toast to Stella's father as they leave Los Angeles on the Coast Starlight. During the credits, a series of scenes show what each member of the team does with their portion of the money.