Has being cooped up left you super bored? Why not plan an elaborate heist with your crew? It worked for these guys. To make this list a film must primarily be concerned with the planning, execution, and aftermath of a heist. And while plants and inside men are allowed no cons, that’s another list entirely.
- Baby Driver– They don’t come any more stylish and slick than this one. Featuring an all-star cast and a banging soundtrack, this Edgar Wright helmed heist film is all about the getaway. If you’re in it for the car chases this is the one you want to start with.
- Ocean’s 11 (original)- Everybody has seen Clooney, Pitt, and Damon do their thing, but did you know their heist was nothing but a remake? The original featured The Rat Pack. And Clooney may be the coolest man alive but he’s not Sinatra cool.
- The Italian Job (original)- The remake was lame. But the original has Michael Caine, Noel Coward, and a soundtrack from Quincy Jones. And the heist itself is cinematic artistry. And while all the criminals are the ruff and tumble sort this film definitely has that British sense of humor on display.
- A Fish Called Wanda– 80’s Jaime Lee Curtis starring in a heist comedy written by John Cleese. How could you not want to watch this? How have you not already watched this? Go. Go watch this right now.
- Heat- While there’s more than one well-choreographed robbery in this Michael Mann epic, this movie is all about the cat and mouse games being played between Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.
- Three Kings– Not the George Clooney heist film you were expecting? Set back in the more innocent time of The First Gulf War, this film tells the story of three soldiers trying to make it out of a warzone with stolen Kuwaiti gold. The action is intense, the cinematography is out of this world, and Clooney is still Clooney. Definitely has that whole “war is bullshit” vibe going for it.
- The Killing: No not the infuriating AMC murder mystery. I’m talking about the 1956 Kubrick film. A group of criminals map out the perfect plan to rob a racetrack, but once they put their plan into motion things start to go sideways. This film has a frenetic energy to it while still keeping the tension high. One of the early classics of the genre.
- Rififi- A French Film Noir classic. The thirty-minute heist the film centers around contains no dialogue or music and only natural sound. It’s a masterpiece of film making. And just really, really cool.
- Ronin– This is how you make a heist film. Featuring a loaded cast full of veteran actors led by none other than De Niro himself, this film has something for everyone. There’s car chases and gunplay, spy intrigue and double-crosses, and beautiful cinematography as the action rolls around Europe. Fun but tense, this is a modern classic.
- How to Steal a Million– We’ll finish off the list with a delightful heist comedy pairing Audrey Hepburn and Peter O’Toole. The film relies on the charms of its leads to carry a somewhat thin plot, but that’s not a bad bet when you have two of the most charming people who ever lived as those leads. The heist itself is fun, with some well-choreographed bits and a good amount of humor. And the movie’s aesthetic is so 60’s you could probably use it as a time machine. The movie for when you want to watch a heist film, but they want to watch a romantic comedy.