The Art of the Steal

Writer-director Jonathan Sobol delighted Festival audiences in 2010 with the exuberant ensemble comedy A Beginner's Guide to Endings, and has marshalled another enviable cast for his follow-up, The Art of the Steal. Hollywood veterans Kurt Russell, Matt Dillon, and Terence Stamp join Canadian talents Jay Baruchel, Chris Diamantopoulos, Katheryn Winnick, and Jason Jones for a cross-border caper that once again demonstrates the filmmaker's flair for crackling dialogue, kinetic set pieces, and compelling fraternal dynamics.

In a performance that recalls his iconic turns in Escape from New York and Death Proof, Russell plays Crunch Calhoun, a motorcycle daredevil vaunted less for his death-defying leaps than his calamitous crash landings. Crunch also fancies himself something of a master thief, but winds up in prison when he's double-crossed by Nicky (Dillon), his brother and partner in crime. Released after serving his sentence, the cash-strapped former stuntman is inevitably tempted to complete one last score, and reluctantly reunites with his scheming sibling. With a painstaking plan in place and the old crew reassembled, the million-dollar question becomes: can the Calhoun brothers pull off the job before their tenuous truce unravels?

Respectively exuding easy charisma and icy guile, Russell and Dillon anchor the comic adventure, while Stamp, Diamantopoulos, Winnick, and Jones contribute deft supporting turns. And, as a hilariously inept con man, emergent star Baruchel fittingly continues to perfect the art of stealing scenes. Backed by this superb cast, Sobol has crafted a fresh, sophisticated take on the heist genre, one that delivers plot twists and punchlines in equal measure. The Art of the Steal will keep audiences guessing, and laughing, until its invigorating final frames.