Movie Details
| Title: | The Hot Rock | |
| Director: | Peter Yates | |
| Year: | 1972 | |
| Genre: | Heist | |
| Times Seen: | 1 | |
| Last Seen: | 03.26.23 |
Other Movies Seen By This Director (2)
- The Deep
- The Friends of Eddie Coyle
| Date Viewed | Venue | Note |
| 03.26.23 | Internet | Tonight's double feature is a pairing of Robert Redford movies written by William Goldman. I read Goldman's book Adventures in the Screen Trade in college and, like everyone, found it to be amazing. Both that and his follow-up, Which Lie Did I Tell? both give a candid look behind the scenes of his biggest hits and hollywood in general. It's been quite a while since reading those, and I remember him saying a few things about the second movie in this double feature, but I don't remember him even mentioning this movie. It could be because it was a huge bomb when it came out, but to be honest I didn't realize this was even written by Goldman when I added it to my list. Redford and Peter Segal are kinda like Clooney and Pitt in the Ocean's 11 remake, where Redford gets out of jail and immediately starts a new job: to steal some Saharan diamond. Where the movie departs from a typical heist is that the theft itself happens relatively early in the movie, but complications lead to a series of other capers that the crew has to do in order to retrieve the diamond which keeps eluding their grasp. It's a solid enough little movie. I don't think it's quite funny enough to stand out as a comedy, quite thrilling enough to stand out as an action, or quite clever enough to stand out as a heist movie but it has a good pedigree (Redford and Segal, Peter Yates directing, the Goldman script based on a Donald E. Westlake book, a Quincy Jones jazz score), and the early 70s NYC location photography is fun to look at. There's a helicopter sequence where you see some good footage of the World Trade Center towers still under construction. Also, this is I think the second or third time I've seen Zero Mostel in a movie, playing I guess himself as usual. Also, there's a tiny role of Redford's sister played by a stunning 70s lady named Topo Swope. What kind of name is that? I'm definitely using that in my D&D campaign. Also, we know she's supposed to be his sister but the coverage of the scene makes it seem like he's interested. Very odd little scene in a movie that similarly doesn't quite add up to the sum of its parts. |
