Lumet's complex and atmospheric thriller is based on a real event. Pacino is superb as the neurotic and incompetent gay bankrobber who needs the money from the robbery to finance his lover's sex change operation. The film's beauty is it's closely detailed psychological observation. Excellent.

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Phyllis Dietrichson is trapped in a loveless marriage to a man who inspires in her nothing but contempt, but rather than leave him Phyllis decides to kill him and collect on the insurance policy she's had set up with the help of her lover, and naive partner in crime, insurance salesman Walter Neff. The only flaws in their plan are the company's reluctance to pay out so much, the diligence of Neff's increasingly suspicious colleague, (and his 'little man'), and the exemplary ruthlessness of Ph find out more...

A superb modern thriller in the ultra-hardboiled Jim Thompson mould, in which a trio of criminals, wanted for a brutally murderous drugs heist, converge on a small, quiet Arkansas township where the local cop, treated with contempt by the LA officers in charge of the case, looks forward to a High Noon-style showdown. The asides on racial and sexual inequality are made subtly and succinctly; the performances and pacing are nigh perfect; the violence is explicit, disturbing but never gratuitous; a find out more...

Four men set in motion a heist of incredible audacity, a robbery where the level of risk is only matched by the protagonists' meticulous precision, but though the thieves are consummate professionals once the job is done their emotions and animosities begin to threaten the rewards of their hard work. Rififi is renowned for its tense half hour long heist scene in which not a word is ever uttered, and acknowledged as one of the classic examples of French film noir. find out more...

You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off! A classic sixties comedy/thriller with Michael Caine and a bunch of Brits blagging a big Italian bank. Lots of style action, laughs and a superbly choreographed car escape sequence. find out more...

Nick is one of the best safe crackers in the business and he's ready to retire, with the money from his life of crime he now owns his own jazz club and his girlfriend wants him to turn legit. Into this comes hungry young thief Jack and Nick's fence and old friend, Max, who can smell the opportunity for a last big score. Nick is reluctantly brought into the equation, but despite the meticulous planning, egos and greed are in danger of blowing everything. The Score is a slick and pacey heist movie find out more...

A formidable gangster thriller later to be cribbed by Tarantino. An itchy crew of criminal cronies grab a metro carriage of civilians and demand $1 million ransom, causing the kind of chaos in New York City that a traditional train heist causes the cavalry. But, once they've got the ransom, how on earth do they expect to get away? find out more...

A very dated but still entertaining slice of 60s kitsch. McQueen is the incredibly debonaire playboy millionaire, led to commit robbery through boredom, countered by Dunaway, the implausibly glamorous fraud investigator. Much period posing and split-screen shenanigans, with fun results. find out more...

Definitely THE film of 1995, with the added bonus of bearing up to repeated viewing even when you know the final twist. A tightly scripted, complex and compelling whodunnit which slowly unpeels layer upon layer to reveal the truth behind the opening carnage, and in which nothing is as it seems. find out more...

Chilling and fast-moving thriller as a secret service agent goes out to avenge the death of his partner at the hands of a ruthless money forger. A very violent and stylish movie which has prompted many inferior immitations. Real edge-of-seat action from the director of "The French Connection". find out more...