Despite Robert De Niro's occasional forays into humor, such as "Meet the Parents," "Analyze This" and "We're No Angels," audiences have come to expect commanding performances when De Niro appears in tough underworld crime sagas.
"The Score" is De Niro's first movie of the 21st century that delivers truly classic De Niro grit, packaged in a reasonably well-assembled movie.
While "The Score" does not challenge the sheer brilliance of his command performances in "Goodfellas," "Casino" and "Heat" -- roles that eclipsed all other works of the 1990s -- his latest work plays to the sensibilities of those previous masterpieces. Moreover, "The Score" helps to address the shortcomings of his previous efforts, like "Cop Land" and "Ronin."
With a cast comprised of De Niro, Edward Norton, Angela Bassett and a now-rare appearance by Marlon Brando, expectations for complex emotional tension and rich character expression are certainly elevated prior to entering the theater.
However, "The Score's" mission is not to embark on a lengthy tour into the souls of its characters.
Unlike Martin Scorsese's able skill at uncovering layer upon layer of a character's tortured, contradictory motivations, "Score" director Frank Oz is limited by a restrictive script that chooses a faster tempo of action and just a veneer of tension over captivating character complexity. Still, De Niro's convincing reflexes of crime melodrama strike with great believability, even in the absence of solid background stories.
While Marlon Brando's role as De Niro's old friend and high rolling fence is enjoyable, the possibilities of De Niro and Brando together onscreen are not explored in a completely satisfying manner.
Development of the scene with these two ex-Don Corleones sitting next two each other in the NYC Jazz Bar falls significantly short of the masterful dialogue that pitted ex-Don Corleone (De Niro) against ex-Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) in the Dinner scene in "Heat."
The most extraordinarily redeeming element of this film is the pressurized connection between Edward Norton's and Robert De Niro's characters.
The symbiotic rift between the characters' generational incongruities and their mutual saintly reverence for their criminal profession is a drinkable Molotov cocktail of drama that produces believable, explosive action sequences.
The gravitational pull and viscous friction between Norton and De Niro's characters is a top-flight aspect of this generally fine film.
While De Niro's relationship with Angela Bassett's character should have been substantially more developed, Bassett serves as an effective conduit for installing De Niro's character into his Montreal surroundings.
While the dynamics of this pair do not in any way begins to match the deep complexity of how De Niro's character is pitted against Sharon Stone's character in "Casino," "The Score" presents a similar rich strain between De Niro and Bassett but then ignores the buildup of its lavish potential.
While the plot is neither arresting in its creativity nor complete in the exhilaration that it tries to build (mainly because of a slow start to the film), the storyline is worthwhile and exciting.
The ending sequences of dialogue between De Niro and Norton reveal craftsmanship of the acting talent that the rest of the film manages to conceal.
However, each gem of De Niro and Norton exchange that is compellingly served up makes the entirety of the film well-worth engaging.
Had writers Kario Salem and Dan Taylor tightened the script with several more thoughtful edits, "The Score" might well stand as another impressive monument to De Niro's virtuosity of acting as the honorable yet ruthless underworld criminal, which he does better than anyone else dead or alive.
Instead, "The Score" only succeeds as an excellent summer flick that is well worth watching again and again, like so many other De Niro greats.
