Nolte's latest art noir successful, but not flawless

In film, there's a fine line between art and entertainment. "The Good Thief" manages the journey down this boundary, dipping to both ends of the spectrum, stumbling only on occasion.\nBob Montagnet (Nick Nolte) is a down and out gambler turned junkie in dire need of a situation reversal. He devises a plan to pull-off a daring double heist -- one real, one fake -- involving a casino and a gallery of priceless art. Now he and his eclectic team of thieves must execute the score under the scrutiny of Roger (Tchéky Karyo), a cop with whom Bob playfully runs the gamut as cat and mouse. \nNeil Jordan's remake of Jean-Pierre Melville's "Bob le Flambeur" is beautifully crafted with expressionistic style. He staggers transitions with trick editing; freezing on the last frame of the final shot in each segment, jolting the audience into paying a split-second's worth of extra mind to the images on screen before progressing the narrative. The colors are vivid and pure, laid out in a visceral myriad of tones that convey the characters' moods often better than the performances. The lighting is poignant; acutely highlighting from the side and back of the frame, separating the actors from their environments, emphasizing the film noir aesthetic, especially when someone is smoking -- the smoke becomes a key character, vibrant and alive. The cinematography is powerfully complex as the camera constantly weaves about the dank, minimally-lit sets, around the actors, pushing into focus on a particular element, then swiveling back and around with violent grace to set up a two-shot, revealing a background littered with proficiently controlled mise-en-scene. \nReally, Nolte steals the show. Just looking at him you get the idea he's a man who has seen a lot, living through hard times but still kicking. The other actors are toss-ups. Some are good, some are about as charismatic as my left big toe. And the movie feels somewhat like "Ocean's 11," but with drug-addicted, chain-smoking geezers void of all sex appeal. The one female character (an underage Russian prostitute) that forms a somewhat ambiguous bond with Bob is dull and all too static. \nStill, "The Good Thief" ends up as a crafty, artsy, little caper-noir thriller that blends a good plot with humor and great aesthetics. Though bordering on slow and pretentious, there's plenty to appreciate.