Post by Brad Nelson on Oct 10, 2020 8:34:05 GMT -8
In Once a Thief, Van Halen plays a grizzled cop who is pursuing Eddie Pedak to the point of persecution. Van Halen (Inspector Mike Vido of the SFPD) suspects that Eddie is the guy who shot him in a bungled robbery attempt several years ago. Eddie went away to prison for a number of years for the robbery. But the charge of shooting of an officer was not proven.
Jack Palance plays Eddie’s brother, Walter Pedak, who comes back into Eddie’s life with another heist job in hand. He needs his brother because his brother used to work at the place that Walter wants to rob. And it’s an interesting bit of loot they’re after: roles of platinum that are apparently lightweight enough (and valuable enough…up to a million dollars) to be worth stealing.
Ann-Margrock plays Eddie’s young wife. Eddie is trying his best to go the straight-and-narrow but the intermittent hassling by Inspector Vido tends to lose him whatever job he’s currently working at.
Eddie gets frustrated and desperate. His brother’s prospective heist job, which he had vehemently refused, is now starting to look better.
It’s a good cast in a movie that is solid for probably 2/3 of the way. The interesting bit is the Eddie Pedak has to be one of the stupidest and least sympathetic protagonists (and/or antagonists) ever filmed. By the time you reach the end, you certainly aren’t rooting for him. And it’s not that he’s bad or deserving of a bad outcome (if indeed a bad outcome is in his future). It’s that you’re pummeled as a viewer by his serial stupidity and eventually lose any kind of emotional attachment to him.
The plot goes a bit off the rails near the end. I swear, I think many movies do this simply because everyone is interesting in wrapping it up and getting onto the next project.
Rarely are movies shot in the sequence of the action. And I’m guessing this one is no different. Ann-Margrock, early in the picture, is not doing a very good job of acting. But near the end she has a major freak-out scene where I think she is fantastic.
Anyway, it’s a decent movie to watch. It’s part family drama, part police procedural, and part heist film. Jeff Corey (Plasus, The Cloud Minders) is good in his relatively small role as Vido’s boss.
As I said, some of the plot comes off the rails in the end, especially the way that the Pedak's young daughter is used as a McGuffin to try to make the awkward finish work out. And you’ll see what I mean by the stupidity of Eddie Pedak at the end of this if you get a chance to watch it. And you should.
Jack Palance plays Eddie’s brother, Walter Pedak, who comes back into Eddie’s life with another heist job in hand. He needs his brother because his brother used to work at the place that Walter wants to rob. And it’s an interesting bit of loot they’re after: roles of platinum that are apparently lightweight enough (and valuable enough…up to a million dollars) to be worth stealing.
Ann-Margrock plays Eddie’s young wife. Eddie is trying his best to go the straight-and-narrow but the intermittent hassling by Inspector Vido tends to lose him whatever job he’s currently working at.
Eddie gets frustrated and desperate. His brother’s prospective heist job, which he had vehemently refused, is now starting to look better.
It’s a good cast in a movie that is solid for probably 2/3 of the way. The interesting bit is the Eddie Pedak has to be one of the stupidest and least sympathetic protagonists (and/or antagonists) ever filmed. By the time you reach the end, you certainly aren’t rooting for him. And it’s not that he’s bad or deserving of a bad outcome (if indeed a bad outcome is in his future). It’s that you’re pummeled as a viewer by his serial stupidity and eventually lose any kind of emotional attachment to him.
The plot goes a bit off the rails near the end. I swear, I think many movies do this simply because everyone is interesting in wrapping it up and getting onto the next project.
Rarely are movies shot in the sequence of the action. And I’m guessing this one is no different. Ann-Margrock, early in the picture, is not doing a very good job of acting. But near the end she has a major freak-out scene where I think she is fantastic.
Anyway, it’s a decent movie to watch. It’s part family drama, part police procedural, and part heist film. Jeff Corey (Plasus, The Cloud Minders) is good in his relatively small role as Vido’s boss.
As I said, some of the plot comes off the rails in the end, especially the way that the Pedak's young daughter is used as a McGuffin to try to make the awkward finish work out. And you’ll see what I mean by the stupidity of Eddie Pedak at the end of this if you get a chance to watch it. And you should.