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Score, The
Paramount Pictures


6.9

based on 29 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 30 votes
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Rate this movie

FILM:

MPAA RATING: R for language

Starring Robert De Niro, Edward Norton, Marlon Brando, Angela Bassett, Gary Farmer, Paul Soles, and Jamie Harrold

Career thief Nick Wells (De Niro) postpones his plans for retirement and joins forces with a young upstart (Norton) to mastermind a nearly impossible theft.

GENRE(S):	Drama
WRITTEN BY:	Lem Dobbs Scott Marshall Smith Kario Salem (also story) Daniel E. Taylor (story)
DIRECTED BY:	Frank Oz
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: December 11, 2001 Video: December 11, 2001 Theatrical: July 13, 2001
RUNNING TIME:	123 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Washington Post Desson Thomson

The best heist flick since "The Usual Suspects," a perfect 10 of a movie.

100

Portland Oregonian Barry Johnson

A snappy little heist movie with acting performances both deft and brilliant

Variety Robert Hofler

Meticulously detailed thriller.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

Nobody's going to think of The Score as trail-blazing, but there's nothing small-time about its dramatic and acting payoff.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

It's a summit meeting between three brilliant leading men from three generations with three striking on-screen personas.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Not a great movie, but as a classic heist movie, it's solid professionalism.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

A sturdily diverting old fashioned heist thriller that looks like a masterpiece of sheer competence next to the slovenly action fantasy F/X grab bags that have been passing for summer entertainment.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

It has a terrific retro style, it's well-directed and it makes an engrossing showcase for its trio of stars.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

There's more suspense in watching Brando, who has trouble with physical exertion, get on and off a bar stool than the robbery itself. Still, Brando -- his eyes alive with mischief --is the life of the movie.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

You begin to wonder whether a story is ever going to show up. When it does, it's worth the wait for a long and well-turned set piece coordinating the heist, and two lovely flips in the plot.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

A top-drawer heist movie that ratchets up the tension inch by careful inch, The Score will remind you of classic caper films of the past, and that is a good thing.

Salon.com Charles Taylor

A weaker actor, one more naked than De Niro is now capable of being, might have revealed some inner compulsion in the character. But De Niro's steadiness becomes part of the movie's rugged stolidity.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

You get the sense that this elegant, tough-guy jazz caper is a movie Clint Eastwood might have been proud to make.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Except when Norton is playing retarded, he and De Niro basically compete to see who can under-act the other. It's positively mesmerizing.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

If The Score isn't quite in the same league as the classic "Rififi" or even "Thief," its single-mindedness still makes for a refreshing change from the preposterous bloat of most contemporary action movies.

San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham

This is a solid suspense thriller that's fun. These stars have put it together in a spirit of playfulness -- as in playacting.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

A jazzy, immensely absorbing thriller.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

As a film, The Score may not add up to much, but take it apart and it's something to see.

New Times (L.A.) Gregory Weinkauf

Brando wanders through the movie as if he's tolerating an annoying guest, sweetly charming one minute, detached and obnoxious the next.

USA Today Claudia Puig

There are explosions, double-crosses and chase sequences, but it just doesn't add up to edge-of-your-seat tension.

TV Guide Tanya L. Edwards

With its dream cast, standard story and heaps of class, this is the kind of sophisticated heist flick that could be just as easily at home in 1951 as it is in 2001.

New York Magazine Peter Rainer

I'm not sure I have it in me to rant yet again about what a deprivation it is for our finest actor to deny us his genius in this way.

Village Voice Dennis Lim

Perhaps awed by the congress of Method men, director Frank Oz stands back as his actors phone it in.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

This one's slightly better than average these days, which means slightly diverting.

Mr. Showbiz Cody Clark

It's Norton's movie, really, and he shines both as cocky Jack and as cerebral-palsied Brian.

Slate David Edelstein

An appropriately generic title for a droning, high-toned little heist picture with no dash and no raison d'être.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

What's fatal to the film is that De Niro's character, though compelling, is so temperate and wise he gives no indication of why he was drawn to a life of crime.

Wall Street Journal Ed Epstein

Lacks a crucial element of the heist subgenre: ingenuity.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

I don't know how much The Score cost, but it's pretty close to worthless.

The average user rating for this movie is 6.9 (out of 10) based on 30 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

[Anonymous] gave it an8:
Cool film...the way it's edited and filmed is quite easy on the senses, and the world of the thief surrounds you. Almost makes you wish you had what it took to be a master thief.

[Anonymous] gave it a3:
The snail-slow pace of this movie made it excruciating to watch.

[Anonymous] gave it an 8:
Very Good movie, DeNiro is one of the best.

Mustapha M. gave it a 9:
One of the better movies to come along in quite some time. De Niro and Norton give great performances in what I thought was an awesome movie.

David B. gave it a 7:
Well done. I enjoyed this flick.

[Anonymous] gave it a 10:
This great cast is put to even better use. This movie had great action, with no uneened gore. It is edge-of-your-seat suspense that has you begging for more. BRAVO!!

Sam B. gave it a 10:
Edward Norton was AMAZING!!

Score, The Paramount Pictures

Score, The
Paramount Pictures