New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

As forward thinking as it may be, The Italian Job is very much a product of its time. There was no place more Mod than London in 1968. Mike Myers can make fun of it if he wants to; this movie makes it look damn cool. The eclectic clothes, the the way the characters speak and carry themselves, and all those sexy European sports cars – it’s the way Austin Powers would live if he really existed. But what really makes it all come alive is the music.

I can’t figure out how anybody can talk about The Italian Job without mentioning Quincy Jones’s terrific soundtrack. Jones, who just might be the single most talented human alive, wrote a number of singles that feature prominently in the film. They add energy to it, and where in some scenes, the movie makes the music work, in others, the music makes the movie work. Either way, it works for me. It turned Michael Caine into an instant icon of cool, and I’m pretty sure it served as inspiration for at least three out of five heist movies made since 1970. Not everyone loves The Italian Job but the people who do tend to love it a lot.

Over the years, the passion so many people feel for this film has stoked controversy around the film’s ending. I’ve never really understood that because to me, it is the perfect one for such a freewheeling story. It’s a literal cliffhanger and it leaves entirely up to the viewer whether the thieves get away with their thieving or not. And as the credits roll over that ending it’s almost as much fun to sit there thinking it over as it was to watch. Long gone are the days of lime green polyester ties, three inch wide mutton chops and leaded gasoline. But it’s a hell of a lot of fun to go back in time and get your Austin Powers on for 100 minutes or so.and Come on, how can you not like a movie that’s got Michael Caine, Benny Hill, and a car chase so hilariously fun it has its own theme song?

Continued:       1       2       3