Set in 1970s Chicago, it tells the story of a sociopathic ex-con who learned to be a master thief in prison and now desires a big score so that he can live a "normal" life with a wife and family.
Frank (James Caan) went to prison as a young man for stealing $40. While in prison, he got involved in a fight in which a prisoner died and spent 11 years in custody. During this time, his wife left him. While there, he learned the safe-cracking trade from an older prisoner, Okla Bertinneau (Willie Nelson). When the film action begins, Frank has been out of prison for four years and has been a highly skilled and profitable safecracker of diamonds. On the side, he owns a used car dealership and a small restaurant. His only "friend" is an electronic expert who helps in his thefts, Barry (Jim Belushi).
Frank gets attracted to a cashier, Jessie (Tuesday Weld), who has her own history of being associated with a now-dead drug dealer. Frank has just completed a big heist, but the fence who owes him $180,000 has been killed by the mob. Frank, who is single-minded about everything he does, confronts a lower-level hood, Attaglia (Tom Signorelli), for his money and gets it. His direct, brutal honesty with Jessie actually wins her over. However, his lone-wolf approach does get him into trouble with crooked Chicago policemen who rough him up at one point.
In his haste to achieve his goal of getting out of the business and into a normal life, he agrees to help a higher-up hood, Leo (Robert Prosky), with a big $4,000,000 job that will pay him $830,000. Leo helps Frank and Jesse with an illegal adoption and a house. Frank is successful at the big theft, but Leo gives him less than $100,000 and insists that Frank continue to work for him, and threatens his family if he does not. This leads to a climactic, violent conclusion.
The movie has a lot of polish, though I think the cinematography is better than the dialogue. The storyline has potential, but James Caan essentially plays a loner Sonny Corleone (from "The Godfather")--headstrong, "no one tells me what to do," and completely unempathetic to anyone else. Tuesday Weld is let down by the script.
Frank (James Caan) went to prison as a young man for stealing $40. While in prison, he got involved in a fight in which a prisoner died and spent 11 years in custody. During this time, his wife left him. While there, he learned the safe-cracking trade from an older prisoner, Okla Bertinneau (Willie Nelson). When the film action begins, Frank has been out of prison for four years and has been a highly skilled and profitable safecracker of diamonds. On the side, he owns a used car dealership and a small restaurant. His only "friend" is an electronic expert who helps in his thefts, Barry (Jim Belushi).
Frank gets attracted to a cashier, Jessie (Tuesday Weld), who has her own history of being associated with a now-dead drug dealer. Frank has just completed a big heist, but the fence who owes him $180,000 has been killed by the mob. Frank, who is single-minded about everything he does, confronts a lower-level hood, Attaglia (Tom Signorelli), for his money and gets it. His direct, brutal honesty with Jessie actually wins her over. However, his lone-wolf approach does get him into trouble with crooked Chicago policemen who rough him up at one point.
In his haste to achieve his goal of getting out of the business and into a normal life, he agrees to help a higher-up hood, Leo (Robert Prosky), with a big $4,000,000 job that will pay him $830,000. Leo helps Frank and Jesse with an illegal adoption and a house. Frank is successful at the big theft, but Leo gives him less than $100,000 and insists that Frank continue to work for him, and threatens his family if he does not. This leads to a climactic, violent conclusion.
The movie has a lot of polish, though I think the cinematography is better than the dialogue. The storyline has potential, but James Caan essentially plays a loner Sonny Corleone (from "The Godfather")--headstrong, "no one tells me what to do," and completely unempathetic to anyone else. Tuesday Weld is let down by the script.