The Score A Movie Review	MPAA Rated - R It's 2:05 Long A Review by The Dude on the Right

Picture this trio of actors: Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, and Edward Norton. Brando and De Diro have already made their respective marks as great actors, and Edward Norton is coming into a superb reputation with his performances in the likes of "American History X" and "Fight Club" to name a few. Can this trio form a chemistry, will egos get in the way, and can they let each other not over-power a movie? Well, in "The Score" they do a good job in their respective roles, but how could you ever be surprised in a movie about a robbery where there was only one neat twist that you might not have seen coming, but the rest of the movie is riddled with predictability and a wonder why Angela Bassett is even in the movie.

The story kind of goes like this: De Niro plays Nick. He’s an aging thief who owns a jazz club in Montreal for cover and stability. Like every other aging thief we’ve ever seen in a movie, well, Nick wants to get out of the business, maybe then the love of his life will spend the rest of his life with him, but, how does that line go, "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in," or at least something like that. Brando is Max, the set-up man, meaning he finds the thing to get stolen, i.e. jewelry, art, etc, that he can sell, gets Nick to steal it, and gives Nick a cut. Well, Max has found the mother of all things to steal – a historic scepter being kept in the Montreal customs building. The scepter is priceless although the Montreal dopes don’t know its worth yet. Well, Jack (Norton), has been casing the customs building posing as a disabled janitor, and Max knows that the scepter can only been stolen if the two of them team together. The catch – Nick hates teaming together and also knows better than to steal things in the town you live in.

Well, eventually Jack convinces Nick that the job can be done and we get to see the two of them work out the details on the heist. And for this review I’ll leave the story at that, although I suppose I could give the rest of it away because most of it was predictable, especially the ending, but, I’ll be nice this time and leave the story alone.

It was just too bad for me that these three guys get wasted in this story. Brando is in that role almost similar to the likes of "The Godfather," being the man ultimately pulling the strings, calmly twisting Jack and Nick into the necessity of getting this job done. Then you’ve got De Niro in a role as the trained professional. He knows how to get the job done, he knows when things are getting a little too hairy, and he knows that ultimately he has to watch his back. And then you’ve got Norton as the youngster, still wet behind the ears, kinda arrogant, with another agenda, and sometimes flying by the seat of his pants rather than being cool. And these guys all do their jobs well, but as much as I liked their acting I couldn’t help but keep watching the story and going "I’ll bet this happens next." Unfortunately, other than my wondering how Nick was actually going to get the safe open and being pleasantly surprised at his ingenuity (although even that was hinted at earlier), it was really easy to see what was going to happen next.

I’m not saying that we need to totally shock people in heist-style movies, but someone needs to write a screenplay where three great actors like Norton, De Niro, and Brando can use their talents in an original way.

I’ll give "The Score" 3 ½ stars out of 5, and mostly only because of our trio of actors. Anyone else and the movie probably would have really sucked, but if you desire to see three different acting styles by three of the dudes who can do them best, go to "The Score." Otherwise wait for video or cable and just enjoy a night on the couch.

That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!