The Art of the Steal

"It takes a great artist to pull off the perfect con."

2013 1h 30m EN

😐

6.2

MID

★6.2TMDB · 633

ComedyCrime

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Crunch Calhoun, a third-rate motorcycle daredevil and part-time art thief, teams up with his snaky brother to steal one of the most valuable books in the world. But it's not just about the book for Crunch — he's keen to rewrite some chapters of his own past as well.

“It takes a great artist to pull off the perfect con.”

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Cast

Kurt Russell
Crunch Calhoun
Matt Dillon
Nicky Calhoun
Jay Baruchel
Francie
Kenneth Welsh
'Uncle' Paddy MacCarthy
Chris Diamantopoulos
Guy de Cornet
Katheryn Winnick
Lola
Jason Jones
Interpol Agent Bick
Terence Stamp
Samuel Winter

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jonathan Sobol
Writers: Jonathan Sobol
Languages: English
Countries: Canada, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

90 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 13 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Canada, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jonathan Sobol, shot by Adam Swica. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Grayson Matthews. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Geoff Ashenhurst shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Kurt Russell and Matt Dillon and Jay Baruchel carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "It takes a great artist to pull off the perfect con.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jonathan Sobol directs. Adam Swica behind the camera. Grayson Matthews scores. Geoff Ashenhurst cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Canada, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

190 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Released 13 years ago.
3International production across 2 countries: Canada, United States of America.
4Directed by Jonathan Sobol, shot by Adam Swica. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Grayson Matthews. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Geoff Ashenhurst shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Kurt Russell and Matt Dillon and Jay Baruchel carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "It takes a great artist to pull off the perfect con.".
9IMDB entry: tt2172985 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 16 themes, including "brother", "brotherhood", "risk", "heist".

The technical file

Cinematography: Adam Swica
Original score: Grayson Matthews
Editing: Geoff Ashenhurst
Production design: Matthew Davies
Runtime: 90 min · 1h 30m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $64,065
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Art of the Steal (2013)

Also by

Jonathan Sobol

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Reno2017-01-14
★ 6/10
The two half-brothers and the art heist. I like heist movies, once they were making great ones, but not anymore. I have heard about this, though haven't seen it till now. Seems it's a decent film, but came at the wrong time of the history. You know, the same film 15-20 years ago would have made a better impact among people, as well as commercially. Nowadays, the youngsters want only superhero action-sci-fi films. That should not be the reason for a film's failure. Instead, they should have improved it in lots of areas. But still I liked a few things from it, like the information about mixing the real art with the fake ones, but still it remains as the real. The film is about two half-brothers. They are the art thieves and they have done many jobs together, but in their final one, one of them betrays. So the rest of the narration sets in a few years later when they join hands for another big art heist sidelining their differences. They form a big team and this time they are watchful over each other. Now comes the final act where the actual event takes place and with a twist the story comes to an end. An enjoyable film, little funny and had some good moments, But overall film was predictable, including the twist. Could be the director's best film so far. Kurt Russell was just okay, but expected a lot. The rest of the cast in this multi-starrer, does not look good, though contributed. Maybe the film characters were weaker than the story. They should have focused more on them to progress it, so it would have achieved the success they were looking for than what a few people praising it. I think it's okay for a watch with the low expectation. 6/10

Production companies