Capers (now: The Brooklyn Heist)

Cinequest 2009

I loved Capers from the opening credit animations. I’m going to borrow from the IMDB plot summary to explain the details:

Three teams of criminals share the same Brooklyn block, but each exists in a separate genre of film. The Amateurs are trapped in a 1970’s anti-hero movie. The Sputniks live in black and white. The Moolies can’t escape their rap video life. But they all share a hatred of Connie, a racist local pawn shop owner and mafia widow. So when Connie has a heart attack, each team decides it’s time to find out what’s inside her legendary safe. Unfortunately they all plan their big score for the same night.

If I had read that description before the film, I wouldn’t have been so confused at first. But even in my confusion I loved the characters and wanted to keep watching them on screen. Eventually all the stories start merging together and you understand that they all want whatever is in Connie’s safe. As the Moolies put it, they “want money and don’t want to work for it”. Unfortunately, all three teams end up working much harder than they expected to get Connie’s safe. I freakin LOVED Connie. More racist than Archie Bunker and with less heart, but like with Archie, you can’t help but love her character. Danny Masterson seemed much more comfortable in his role as the head of the Amateurs than he was in Wake. And every time he and his partner appeared on screen walking their little dachshund I let out a little SQUEEEE inside. Dachshunds are to me like Robert Pattinson is to teenage girls.

It wasn’t the greatest film I’ve ever seen at Cinequest, and some people around me didn’t love it as much as I did, but everyone did seem to agree that it was Good, at LEAST. I really liked the use of the different filming styles, even though they confused me in the beginning. I was pretty impressed when the teams started crossing into each other’s stories and their scenes continued to have their own film style even in the same frame. And it had a very satisfactory ending, with a promise of a sequel (except it’s a film festival movie, so a sequel may never happen). Oh, and there’s a “brutal Russian sex scene” that you’re not going to want to miss. Trust me.

Now available on Netflix, DVD and Instant Video, and I definitely say you should see this imaginative, original film!!