Best Heist Movies

[Patricia Abbott]

After seeing the semi-pallid Ocean's Thirteen (okay, the guys looked pretty good), we got into a discussion of the best heist movies ever. Which movies stand out in your mind? For instance, someone said Dog Day Afternoon, but would that really count? Should a heist movie be mostly about planning and executing a heist and not sidebar into other issues.

[Karma Sutra]

Mamet has a unique way of making victims of the perpetrator's in his films. As far as heist films go, here's my list:

Heist
Glengarry Glen Ross
The Killing
Payback ( Porter goes through hell to get his money back from the job)
Heat
Reservoir Dogs
Ocean's Eleven (the original and the remake)
The Score
Sexy Beast
The Usual Suspects

[Nick Lawless]

How about CHARLIE VARRICK with Walter Mattheau? KILLING ZOE is an acquired taste, but I liked it. BLOOD & WINE might only marginally qualify as a "heist" film, but I'd still recommend it.

[Paul Brazill]

Lots of good ones there but what about 'Palookaville'?... nice and low key...

[Jeremy Lynch]

The Lookout.

[Judith Levy]

The Thomas Crowne Affair would be my top pick, although the bank heist that opens The Dark Knight is excellent too.

[Rhonda Lane]

I liked "The Bank Job." And Spike Lee's "Inside Man" (or could IM even be considered a heist movie, with the emphasis on Denzel's cop character?)

[Amy Gugerty]

The original Thomas "Crowne Affair" and "Reservoir Dogs" are both awesome. I'm particularly fond of "Le Cercle Rouge", though.

[Gus Cileone]

I just recently saw How to Steal a Million again, and agree that it is a great heist film. Also, an early Michael Caine movie, Gambit, is a lot of fun, with some twists in it. Another good film is The Score with Edward Norton. A recent film, which I think is great, is Confidence, with Edward Burns, Paul Giamatti, and Dustin Hoffman. A lot of great twists and turns.

Gus Cileone
A Lesson in Murder
www.augustuscileone.com

[Donna Carrick]

Of course it's terribly dated now, but I absolutely LOVED Elliott Gould in The Silent Partner. At the time it was very dark and tense.

[minervaK]

'Jackie Brown' gets my vote. The Quentin Tarantino one.

[Donna Carrick]

Forgot that I loved Jackie Brown -- thanks for the reminder.

[Mike Dennis]

My vote goes, without hesitation, to a little B picture made in 1957 called Plunder Road, starring Gene Raymond. It's a flawlessly-executed story of a gold heist. It's never on TV, so I recommend searching the video sites for it. It's well worth the effort.