Kelly Lawler
USA TODAY
Published 12:00 p.m. UTC Jun 9, 2018
Theres’ nothing quite like the sweet satisfaction of watching a heist movie.
It feels so good to root for the bad guys, whether they pull off the job or crashe and burn. And we’ve got a host of new bad girls to root for in Ocean’s 8, a spin-off of the Ocean’s Eleven franchise with an all-female team of thieves.
To prep for Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett’s big heist at the Met Ball, we recommend five of of our favorite heist films, from classics to recent hits.
If you want to study up on the Ocean family: Ocean’s Eleven
Probably the best way to prepare for a new Ocean’s film is to watch the 2001 classic, which has eclipsed the 1960 original in our zeitgeist. The first in the trilogy starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon is the best, with a seemingly impossible heist at a Las Vegas casino and a twist ending that is perfectly satisfying.
Rent or buy it on Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu or YouTube.
If you want a stone-cold classic: The Sting
Classic cinema is full of impeccable heist flicks, from the French Rififi (1955), which is often credited with kick-starting the genre, to Stanley Kubrick’s creepy The Killing (1956). But our particular fave from the midcentury is this Paul Newman and Robert Redford-starring caper from 1973. Set in the 1930s, it’s one of the most complex and intricate heist stories, as Newman and Redford’s characters attempt to steal $500,000 from a mob boss.
Rent or buy it on Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu or YouTube.
If you have around three hours: Heat
The movie that brought Robert De Niro and Al Pacino together in a diner, Heat is a masterful film. It’s not just a heist story, but an intimate character portrait of both Lt. Vincent Harris (Pacino) and thief Neil McCauley (DeNiro). Directed by Michael Mann, the 1995 film is a no fuss kind of flick, with quick, brutal robberies and a lot of sharp acting.
Stream it on Netflix.
If you’re an Anglophile: The Bank Job
If you haven’t caught this slightly under-the-radar 2008 bank heist film, you should rectify that immediately. The Jason Statham-starring film is based on a mysterious 1971 London bank break-in. In the film’s version of events, intelligence agency MI6 gets the ball rolling, hoping that hiring a band of thieves to rob safety deposit boxes will help it get back some explicit photos of Princess Margaret that a different criminal is using to blackmail the government. The film starts out playful and gets dark, but perhaps the best part of it is how low-tech the theft is: Statham and friends tunnel into the bank while it’s closed over the weekend.
Rent or buy it on Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu or YouTube.
If you want a comedy heist: A Fish Called Wanda
Monty Python‘s John Cleese helped to craft one of the funniest heist films of all time, where the only thing crazier than the caper is the unhinged robbers trying to execute it. Jamie Lee Curtis stars as a woman who teams up with a group of criminals for a diamond theft, hoping to flirt her way into all the loot. A fish, of course, also comes into play.
Stream on CBS All Access.
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