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Parents' Guide to

The Italian Job

By Nell Minow, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

Exciting heist film has action violence, profanity.

Movie PG-13 2003 104 minutes
The Italian Job Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 12+

Based on 8 parent reviews

Lynn S.
Lynn S. Adult
January 1, 2019
age 18+

Sexual content not listed

There's more sexual content then listed in the review. The lead woman is shown in a bra. During the end credits a woman's clothes are ripped off.
3 people found this helpful.
adrian
adrian Adult
April 9, 2008
age 8+

Finally an action movie without the sex and non-stop swearing

We enjoyed this movie. As Christians, we have a hard time finding movies that we approve of for ourselves let alone would let our kids watch. Other than a bit of swearing, which could have been left out, the movie focused on just being a fun, action-packed, intelligent film. It was full of cool chase scenes and was a lot of fun. It was fast-paced and never boring. The story line was original and well-written. We let our 9 year old watch this movie and there were no spots where we didn't think he should cover his eyes or ears. A bit of swearing like I said but it was still a refreshing experience to go to a movie and not have a list of offences afterwards.
2 people found this helpful.
See all 8 parent reviews

What's the Story?

THE ITALIAN JOB begins with the theft of $35 million in gold bars. Then, a second theft occurs as one member of the team double-crosses the others and, thinking he has killed them all, takes the gold for himself. Now, the rest of the team tries to get the gold back. The team is led by Charlie (Mark Wahlberg) and includes genius tech whiz Lyle (Seth Green), genius demolition whiz Left Ear (Yasiin Bey), genius getaway driver Handsome Rob (Jason Statham), and genius safecracker Stella (Charlize Theron), who is also the daughter of Charlie's great mentor and genius safecracker John (Donald Sutherland). They want to get the gold back from colleague-turned-enemy Steve (Edward Norton), who killed John. Stella just wants revenge. And if a little romance enters into the picture, no one should be too surprised.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (8 ):
Kids say (18 ):

Charlie keeps telling Steve that he has no imagination, an unfortunate reminder that the movie, a remake of a Michael Caine caper film, doesn't have much, either. But it has enough panache and charm to make it an enjoyable genre film. Def, Green, Statham, and Sutherland deliver their usual top-notch performances, even when the script gets formulaic. Norton, who reportedly was not happy about being contractually obligated to do the film, at least acts as if he was not happy about being contractually obligated to do the film.

The film's biggest waste of time is a running Napster joke that is years out of date and tired the first time it's used, excruciating by the tenth. Apparently, they were stuck with it because of the appearance in the film of real-life Napster creator Shawn Fanning, a joke maybe 1 percent of the audience will get and one-tenth of 1 percent will care about.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about why we are able to identify with characters in a movie that in real life we probably would not want to cheer for. Why are these people thieves? Will they stop?

  • How do action movies exaggerate things like car chase scenes, in terms of music, camera shots, stunts, and editing?

  • How is violence shown? Did it seem necessary to the overall story, or was it put in simply to make the movie more interesting?

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