MOVIE: King of Thieves crowns career for Caine

Paul O’Rourke 

MICHAEL Caine has had an amazing career. Starring in such films as ‘The Cider House Rules’, ‘Alfie’ and ‘The Dark Knight’, six times nominated for an Oscar and winning twice.  

And while we don’t want to predict that perhaps it’s all over, at age 85, if Caine does choose to hang up the boots, he’s going out with another fine performance. 

In his latest offering, Caine returns to his roots as a street wise Londoner in the ‘King of Thieves’, to play the ringleader of a retired gang of crooks who get back together for one last job. 

The job in question is the real life ‘Hatton Garden Diamond Heist’ which is still the subject of ongoing court proceedings in the UK, and resulted in £14 million worth of jewellery being stolen.   

The film kicks off with Caine’s character recruiting fellow aged pilferers, in what amounts to a stellar cast of British acting clout. 

Winstone, Gambon, Broadbent, Courtenay, Whitehouse, they’re all there. Also coming out of retirement is writer Joe Penhall, who penned the excellent 2009 Viggo Mortensen movie ‘The Road’, but apparently nothing since. 

And taking charge of directorial duties is James Marsh, most noted for the excellent ‘Man on Wire’ documentary and ‘The Theory of Everything’. 

There’s a lot of fun to be had watching the old team of gangsters get back together, with some predictable yet amusing jokes involving hearing aids and lower back pain. 

Some may contend that the filmmakers are cynically aiming for the ‘grey dollar’ market of older cinema goers, but then again it’s a true story, so that argument may be hard to uphold. There are also obvious and justifiable comparisons to be made with the classic 1951 Ealing comedy, ‘The Lavender Hill Mob’ starring Alec Guinness and Stanley Holloway, and that certainly is a hard act to follow.

But despite the criminal subject matter, this is a film that’s not to be taken too seriously. 

It’s good entertainment, funny, and contains some solid performances, especially from Caine himself. We award it a review score of 3.5 royal stars.