Thief

Dir. Michael Mann. 1981, 122 mins. 35mm. With James Caan, Tuesday Weld, Willie Nelson, Jim Belushi, Robert Prosky, Dennis Farina. Michael Mann’s debut film reveals a master already at work, and offered James Caan one of his greatest roles. After one final heist, safecracker Frank hopes to leave his criminal past behind, but string-pulling Leo (a fiendish Robert Prosky) has other plans in mind. Mann’s moody male melodramatics are in full effect, finding luminosity in Chicago’s dark alleys and mining the skittish pathos beneath Caan’s hustle and brawn.

Tickets: $15 ($11 seniors and students / $9 youth (ages 3–17) / free for children under 3 and Museum members at the Film Lover and Kids Premium levels and above). Order tickets online. (Members may contact [email protected] with questions regarding online reservations.)

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