Old Bobby plays the Neil McCauley in Michael Mann’s excellent crime caper.
He is probably by far one of the coolest bad guys to have ever graced the movie screen.
He’ll plough through anyone who gets in his way to get a job done and I’m talking the about the cops, their mothers, the 10 year old walking his dog. He’d probably stream roller over God if the opportunity presented itself.
Even when Al Pacino’s slightly un-hinged copper Vincent Hanna gets a whiff of him he doesn’t break a sweat, he just takes him for a cuppa.
He’s that cool.
Evil Rating: 9
He does kill a lot of people and that includes about 80% of the LAPD in an amazing bank heist in which he walks away without a scratch. The man even instills underwear wetting fear into bullets.
Cool Rating: 10
He’s one sharp dressed dude. Oozes style. Even his girlfriend stays with him after she’s thrown a moral hissy fit when she finds out he’s killed a load of people. The dudes got one serious trouser cannon.
Also, he always seems to be wearing a very snappy pair of sunglasses when he caps some mofo. Did I mention he takes out half the LAPD?
Wimp Rating: 3
There is a love affair but that’s not his down fall. He’s got the girl; he’s got the oodles of cash and a private plane waiting to get him out of the country. Then he breaks one of his own rules in an act of true revenge to square things for his fallen friends.
This give Pacino the chance he needed to catch him.
The Muppet.
Best line:
After some fuck-wit tries to screw him over, old Bobby give him a ring and tells the guy he’s talking an empty telephone. Fuck-wit asks why. Bobby tells him “because there’s a deadman on the end of this fucking line”
What a tease, doesn’t tell the guy “I’m going to kill you fuck-wit” oh no. He just tells him he’s dead and lets the guy brick himself for a good long while.
Does he get the good guy?
Sadly no. But this isn’t a bad thing, you love his character and you want him to win. If he had, it just would have been wrong on so many levels. But hey, he goes out with class. He still manages to shake Pacino’s hand even after old Al’s just filled him with holes.
“Good show old chap”
