BOTTOM LINE: Enjoyable and entertaining with fun characters, “The Italian Job” is a fun way to spend a few hours, even if it stretches credibility in a few places, and in the end is not particularly memorable, special or original.

THE GOOD: Crime caper films always have the potential to be fun, and “The Italian Job” does not disappoint on this front. Although a remake, the film makes much more use of the modern day settings and technology to let us in to the world of a group of high-tech, professional heisters whose equipment seems more expensive than the job (perhaps an exaggeration!). Mark Wahlberg leads the bunch as Charlie Croker, an honourable thief, who along with his crack team, steals $35 million in gold in Venice, only to have it stolen from them by a traitor Steve (Edward Norton), who kills patriach of the group John Bridger (Donald Sutherland) and leaves the rest of them for dead. Charlie plots to steal the gold back from Steve, but he needs the help of Bridger’s reluctant daughter Stella (Charlize Theron) who is an expert safe cracker. Charlie eventually convinces her, and the team go back in to action to reclaim their gold. With a plot like this, “The Italian Job” cannot be anything but fun and entertaining, particularly with the ensemble cast who relish that fun, including a wise-cracking and comfortable Jason Statham as Handsome Rob, a very cool Mos Def as Left Ear and Seth Green as the geeky tech-head Lyle. Edward Norton is particularly effective as the traitor Steve; he looks like a tricky bad guy from the start and is ruthless when the part requires it. The heists are the drawcard, beginning with the one in Venice and the final one where the team crack an armoured car with Steve’s gold in the exact same way they did the job in Venice (hence the title of the film). The trademark use of the Mini-Coopers is also a nice touch. Overall, “The Italian Job” is a fun way to spend a few hours.

THE BAD: The film’s main problem is that once you’ve watched it’s totally forgettable. Although fun to watch, all of the elements do not coalesce to give you a memorable impression and as such fail to resonate. The direction is somewhat workman like, without much inspiration or novelty in the storytelling which is very much needed in the case of this film given its not only been a story-type that has been done before, but is a direct remake of an older film. This is somewhat disappointing given director F. Gary Gray’s previous efforts and the stellar cast involved. Adding to the problem is the lack of credibility in certain scenes throughout the film; for example, when Steve turns on the group, their truck ploughs in to the depths of a frozen river and Charlie and his team manage to stay under water for at least ten minutes, and then rise to the surface and have a soul-searching session after the fact without any visible signs of being cold, although Marky Mark’s hair is wet which is at least something. You do not always expect 100% believability in a fun film, but if the film is making you think of these things then maybe it’s not doing its job properly.