You read that headline right. Heat, directed by Michael Mann, is absolutely a powerhouse entry into the heist movie hall of fame, but internet be damned, it isn't the best. That title belongs to a lesser known Michael Mann film that came out in 1981 called Thief. The film would become part of a new style of noir just barely getting its feet on the ground known as "neon-noir" characterized by synth-based electronic soundtracks (thanks, Tangerine Dream) and prominent use of neon lights and signage from the world the characters inhabit. Think Blade Runner and Drive. As much that can be written about the genre, the real focus here is going to be the nature of a heist movie itself and what makes Thief so darn good at its job.

The basic setup of Thief is simple enough. Frank, played by James Caan, is a criminal safe cracker that is pressured from his circumstances to take a job from an organized crime gang. Frank thinks that if he can just pull off this job he can finally obtain the life he wants complete with a wife played by Tuesday Weld, child, and long time friend and thievery mentor Okla, portrayed by Willie Nelson. Although this sounds like a lot of heist movies out there, it is precisely how the movie fits the pieces of the story together and the design of the heist sequences themselves that elevate this feature to overtake Mann's later work. Hollywood refuses to let the heist movie die, much to the dismay of Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon, who based an entire episode of the show to criticize these types of films. The sub-genre shouldn't be left behind, but some necessary note-taking should be done by Hollywood to understand just what makes a heist film such as Thief stand out from the rest.

The Heists are No-Nonsense

Thief (1981)
James Caan in 'Thief' 

When we first open on Frank, he is in the middle of doing what he does best, stealing diamonds. Part of what makes the heist sequences in Thief so good is the tactile nature of the heists. Taking into consideration the film takes place in the '80s, the actual steps Frank takes to opening the safes he needs to are something to marvel at. The opening heist sequence sees Frank lift and mount a heavy monster of a drill on a safe itself, whilst his two partners monitor things from the outside. The sound design comes in particularly well in this scene as Frank presses large buttons on the drill and has to exert a certain level of physicality to wrangle with the tool itself. All of which can be more clearly felt off-screen. In fact, there are barely any words spoken in the first few minutes of the film as the heist takes place, and that's a good thing. The heist should have a level of finesse to it for sure, but that added layer of physicality in the way that the safe is opened is more interactive with the audience. These days the writers of modern heist movies rely on hacking or explosives to get the loot.

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While this is more accurate in terms of the modern technology that has been implemented since the 1980s, it also comes off as lazy and lacking the sort of creativity that people are expecting from a film. The guy behind the computer that can magically open any door, including the vault, means that the suspense has to be shifted to other aspects of the heist such as a guard making rounds or an alarm system that's slightly harder than the typical hacker character thought at first. Audiences are desensitized to these solutions after so many iterations of the same heist style. Even the walk in quiet bank heist scenes of other films lose the art of the steal and trade it for the suspense of who is going to pull the trigger first. Frank would be shaking his head at that.

Thief-1981-James Caan
Image via TCM 

The big score that Frank pulls off towards the end of the film is just as tactile, starting with cutting into the target building from the roof and ending with using a high heat welding hose to literally cut a new door into the vault in question. Even with the heavy equipment and the noise, Frank is so confident in his plan that by the time the vault is cut into, he isn't even interested in going in it. The perfect heist is pulled off even before they have the loot in hand, and he knows it. Frank is that good. The audience understands this without an explainer other than the clues given by dialogue from other characters. That is why the heists serve a dual purpose. Yes, they are entertaining as hell, but they also show how thorough and meticulous Frank is when it comes to his scores. It is a major part of the reason he has been able to avoid prison time since he got out from his initial stint. The tactical nature of the heists show that Frank is a professional and that stealing is still work, hard work. The audience doesn't need a half-baked origin story or exposition about some other major score Frank did because as the unseen observers the audience gets a front row seat to the skill showcase.

Frank is Interesting. Crew Recruitment Scenes are Not.

Thief-James Caan

We already know Frank is a master thief when we first see him drilling his way into a safe. As the audience gets more time with Frank and his routine, it becomes clear his entire persona attributes itself back to that notion. Frank does not have time for flair or vague conversations. When dealing with other criminals, he routinely tells them to cut the shit. Every piece of dialogue is Frank drilling to the heart of the matter. He simply does not tolerate anything else.

This straight shooter attitude is crystallized in the diner scene. Frank takes his love interest Jessie (Tuesday Weld) to a diner and practices radical honesty in order to get her to agree to join him in the life he has planned after his last score. He tells her straight that he steals things and wants her to be his wife. He goes on to explain his past behind bars and traumas he’s experienced as a result. Frank’s honesty works as Jessie explains her story openly. Frank is the drill in this scene and Jessie is the diamond in the safe. He could lie to her like all the other heist movie characters or date her from within his own crew, which seems to be the go-to move for heist films today. Instead, Mann shows this and many other unrestrained and somewhat forceful conversations that work so well to characterize Frank and drive home the notion that he is going to get to the heart of the matter in everything he does.

In terms of side characters and crew, the expectation, and now laughable trope, is that there will be a collection of scenes where the audience is introduced to crew members who are persuaded to join the heist. This might have worked one time in Ocean’s 11, but that is no longer the case and hasn’t been for some time. The only thing this accomplishes is setting up weak expectations for the already tiresome heist character types that are only sometimes subverted, albeit rather weakly. Here’s the hacker who once hacked into this government site, here is a demo expert who blew up that one thing really well, here's the guy who can hear the safe dial turn really well. We get it. Thief avoids this entirely as Frank’s crew is really just one other guy and a collaborator on gear. We don’t need a scene convincing anyone of anything. They get their characterizations, however small, from their loyalty to Frank and environment, such as the machinist who makes Frank’s tools. Audiences are smart enough to be introduced to a side character and understand where they fit in.

The Story Structure Is a Heist Itself

James Caan-Thief

The characteristic that makes Thief an exemplary heist film is the structure of the movie itself. This, above all other aspects discussed, should be utilized in future heist films to keep the flow of the narrative tight and give the characters room to shine. From the opening frames to the end, the film progressively drills deeper into the world, characters, and stakes of the story. For example, the world at first introduction is just a modern (for the '80s) American city. By the time the credits roll the audience understands it as a gritty and corrupt place where everyone is on the take. Leo (Robert Prosky), the boss, at first glance seems to have some kind of criminal honor code but, by the time Frank is pointing his gun at Leo, we understand him to be a liar, a cheat, and a downright monster of a man.

Similarly, the emotional and physical stakes are raised as the film progresses. Frank wouldn’t have needed to take the job from Leo’s gang if his longtime friend Okla wasn’t dying. Frank would not have needed to use Leo’s connections for a baby if the adoption agency let him adopt despite the criminal record. In a typical heist film (not Thief), these unknowns come in the form of the alarm that gets triggered or the security guard seeing one of the robbers. Thief builds unknowns into everything surrounding the heists which becomes an effective tool to drive the importance of the heist and its aftermath to its peak.

The true score Frank is after is freedom to live the way he wants. The real heist is getting through Leo, who seems to want to control everyone around him. By the time the heist scene comes up towards the end of the movie, we are not concerned with whether Frank is going to get into the safe. We know he is. The heist movie would not be good if they did not get into the vault. The audience is truly concerned with how Frank is going to deal with Leo afterwards because distrust in his character was cemented by this point. All of which comes to a head when Frank exacts his revenge and does the one thing that Robert De Niro’s character only talks about in Heat, which is to walk away form it all when you feel the heat coming around the corner. In this case the heat is Frank understanding that if he doesn’t take action, he may end up working for Leo long term or dead.

It is the show don’t tell attitude that lands Thief its spot as one of the best heist films of all time. Dripping with subtext and injected with well-crafted characters, it proves that you can make a good heist film with plenty of action and a hell of a good heist sequence without the need to rely on tropes that dull a film. We know the players are in the crew because they want the prize. No one wants to see a heist film where the crew doesn’t want to pull a heist. Audiences get that hackers can do anything today. There is real creative opportunity in films to move beyond a white panel van filled with computers to get into a vault, or a walk-in bank heist gone hot. Audience expectations should be played with constantly in film. It's what makes the medium so enjoyable. Lose the external forces that studios think will revive the heist film. Slash the zombies, super storms, or Vin Diesel driving fast, and get back to the art of the steal itself.