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Caper

This caper film invariably involves a group of criminals pooling their resources together to perform a robbery or heist, usually with each member contributing a specified skill (the explosions expert, the marksman, the strong arm) crucial to the job, with the hope of a big payoff that will allow the criminals to fulfil their idea of the American Dream. The terse looks around a laid-out blueprint of a bank or jewelry store, the mastermind criminal assembling a motley crew of career felons, the co-ordinated wristwatches and perfected timing in executing "the job," the fatal flaw that brings the culprits to justice... these are all ingredients to the most viable of crime genres, the caper film. Often there is tension within the group dynamics, contributing to the difficulty of working in harmony to pull off the caper and usually resulting in double-crosses and/or the gang's downfall. The caper film flourished during the original film noir period of American cinema, with films like The Asphalt Jungle setting the standard for later works such as The Killing and Odds Against Tomorrow as well as inspiring the crime dramas of the French (Rififi, Bob Le Flambeur). Caper films can also be solely whimsical in nature (The Lavender Hill Mob, Big Deal On Madonna Street, Bottle Rocket), and some notable later entrees (Reservoir Dogs, The Usual Suspects) have blended black humor and suspense to good effect.

Major Works
Rating
Year
 Title
 
 Director
  9 Stars 1955 Rififi   Jules Dassin
  9 Stars 1950 The Asphalt Jungle   John Huston
  8 Stars 1999 Three Kings   David O. Russell
  8 Stars 1998 Out of Sight   Steven Soderbergh
  8 Stars 1964 The Pink Panther   Blake Edwards
  8 Stars 1958 Big Deal on Madonna Street   Mario Monicelli
  7 Stars 1996 Bottle Rocket   Wes Anderson
  7 Stars 1954 Touchez pas au Grisbi   Jacques Becker
  7 Stars 1966 Le Deuxième Souffle   Jean-Pierre Melville
  7 Stars 1955 Bob Le Flambeur   Jean-Pierre Melville
  7 Stars 1964 Topkapi   Jules Dassin
  7 Stars 1981 Thief   Michael Mann
  7 Stars 1960 The League of Gentlemen   Basil Dearden
  7 Stars 1951 The Lavender Hill Mob   Charles Crichton
  7 Stars 1973 La Bonne Année   Claude Lelouch
  7 Stars 1979 Going in Style   Martin Brest
    7 Stars 1966 Gambit   Ronald Neame
  7 Stars 1971 $ (Dollars)   Richard Brooks
  7 Stars 1948 Criss Cross   Robert Siodmak
  6 Stars 2001 The Score   Frank Oz
  6 Stars 1998 Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels   Guy Ritchie
  6 Stars 1970 Le Cercle Rouge   Jean-Pierre Melville
  6 Stars 1968 The Thomas Crown Affair   Norman Jewison
  6 Stars 1979 The Great Train Robbery   Michael Crichton
    6 Stars 1950 Armored Car Robbery   Richard Fleischer
  5 Stars 2001 Heist   David Mamet
  5 Stars 1999 The Thomas Crown Affair   John McTiernan
    5 Stars 1999 Dead Dogs   Clay Eide
  5 Stars 1999 Entrapment   Jon Amiel
    5 Stars 1995 Farmer & Chase   Michael Seitzman
    5 Stars 1978 Perfect Gentlemen   Jackie Cooper
    5 Stars 1985 Hold-Up   Alexandre Arcady
  5 Stars 1969 Le Clan des Siciliens   Henri Verneuil
    5 Stars 1970 Perfect Friday   Peter Hall
  5 Stars 1959 Odds Against Tomorrow   Robert Wise
  5 Stars 1966 How to Steal a Million   William Wyler
  5 Stars 1972 The Hot Rock   Peter Yates
    5 Stars 1955 Five Against the House   Phil Karlson
  5 Stars 1968 Adieu l'Ami   Jean Herman
    5 Stars 1986 Pouvoir Intime   Yves Simoneau
  5 Stars 1967 The War Wagon   Burt Kennedy
  5 Stars 1960 Two-Way Stretch   Robert Day
  5 Stars 1960 Seven Thieves   Henry Hathaway
  5 Stars 1960 Ocean's Eleven   Lewis Milestone
  5 Stars 1969 The Italian Job   Peter Collinson
  5 Stars 1977 Fun with Dick and Jane   Ted Kotcheff
  5 Stars 1973 Cops and Robbers   Aram Avakian
  5 Stars 1963 Any Number Can Win   Henri Verneuil
  5 Stars 1974 Bank Shot   Gower Champion
    5 Stars 1974 11 Harrowhouse   Aram Avakian
    4 Stars 1995 The Steal   John Hay
    4 Stars 1976 Brink's: The Great Robbery   Marvin J. Chomsky
    4 Stars 1955 A Prize of Gold   Mark Robson
    4 Stars 1960 The Day They Robbed the Bank of England   John Guillermin
    4 Stars 1968 The Biggest Bundle of Them All   Ken Annakin
    4 Stars 1973 The Thief Who Came to Dinner   Bud Yorkin
    4 Stars 1980 Rough Cut   Don Siegel
  4 Stars 1967 Robbery   Peter Yates
  4 Stars 1988 Prisoner of Rio   Lech Majewski
    4 Stars 1972 The Doberman Gang   Byron Ross Chudnow
  4 Stars 1966 Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round   Bernard Girard
  4 Stars 1988 Buster   David Green
    4 Stars 1978 The Brink's Job   William Friedkin
    4 Stars 1969 Le Cerveau   Gérard Oury
  4 Stars 1971 The Anderson Tapes   Sidney Lumet
  3 Stars 1995 The Underneath   Steven Soderbergh
    3 Stars 1967 Le Soleil des Voyous   Jean Delannoy
    3 Stars 1969 The Great Bank Robbery   Hy Averback
  3 Stars 1980 How to Beat the High Co$t of Living   Dabney Coleman
        Las Vegas 500 Millions    
 
 
 
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