Thieves Like Us
The film follows the exploits of three recent prison escapees who become wanted after a string of bank robberies. While on the lam, the youngest member of the group falls for a girl and must balance his newfound love affair with the loyalty he has to his crew. Altman tells an honest story of ordinary people who fell into a life of crime because it was the only thing they knew how to do.
Member Reviews
Definitely not Bonnie and Clyde - CaptainDave
Yes, it's based on the same novel as They Live by Night (****), but no, it is not inferior. Just different. Thieves Like Us is less concerned with plot and is more of a character and period study.
The movie has a kind of ironic detachment, with a cooly observing camera and radio broadcasts for ongoing commentary. For the most part Altman avoids sensationalism, which makes the turning-point car crash and tragic finale even more powerful. The low-key approach, interestingly, draws you more into the characters instead of distancing you from them. The techniques that were used for comedy in M*A*S*H are used here for tragic effect, almost like a Greek chorus.
Keith Carradine is good as the young Bowie who we see slowly mature. John Schuck is great as Chicamaw, carrying a load of resentment against seemingly everybody in the world. But Shelley Duvall as the plain teenager Keechie is simply superb. She perfectly captures the naive youth of her character: a young girl so ignorant she falls for the first boy who pays attention to her and who doesn't even recognize her own pregnancy.
Excellently written (the dialogue is great) this is a fine, overlooked, "minor" film from a great director.They Live By Night as revisionist period piece - duggie
This is based on the same novel as They Live By Night, and it is the inferior of the two, although I still liked it. While the earlier movie focused on the characters and the dark atmosphere, this one pays more attention to how silly America and its people were when looking at the depression era, which gives credence to the idea that Altman was a misanthrope.
Some examples: Poor people drink lots of Coca-Cola as a way to be happy and healthy. The main character played by Keith Carradine treats his do-nothing girlfriend with the same type of affection he gives a dog in an early scene. A chain-gang camp gets broken into with ridiculous ease. All in all, it's an interesting experiment but it doesn't touch the magnificence of the book's first adaptation.
Member Reviews
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Definitely not Bonnie and Clyde - CaptainDave
Yes, it's based on the same novel as They Live by Night (****), but no, it is not inferior. Just different. Thieves Like Us is less concerned with plot and is more of a character and period study.
The movie has a kind of ironic detachment, with a cooly ...They Live By Night as revisionist period piece - duggie
This is based on the same novel as They Live By Night, and it is the inferior of the two, although I still liked it. While the earlier movie focused on the characters and the dark atmosphere, this one pays more attention to how silly America and its people ...