The Art of the Steal (2013 film)
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| Directed by | Jonathan Sobol |
| Produced by | Nicholas Tabarrok |
| Screenplay by | Jonathan Sobol |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Grayson Matthews |
| Cinematography | Adam Swica |
| Edited by | Geoff Ashenhurst |
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| Distributed by |
United States: Radius-TWC Canada: Entertainment One International: Sony Pictures Releasing International |
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Running time
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90 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $61,446 |
The Art of the Steal (also called The Black Marks and The Fix) is a Canadian comedy film written and directed by Jonathan Sobol. It stars Kurt Russell, Jay Baruchel, Chris Diamantopoulos, Matt Dillon, and Katheryn Winnick. It was shown at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.
It begins with a soliloquy by Crunch Calhoun as he begins a seven-year stint in a Polish prison, courtesy of his brother, Nicky Calhoun. A flashback reveals the heist involving the two men that went wrong; resulting in Nicky's capture and subsequent betrayal of Crunch. Once released, Crunch works as a motorcycle daredevil alongside girlfriend Lola and an apprentice, Francie. Meanwhile, Nicky steals a painting by Georges Seurat with the help of a partner whom he double crosses. The partner seeks out and threatens Crunch to get information on Nicky's whereabouts. Shortly afterwards, Crunch informs an old colleague of his, 'Uncle' Paddy, that he's ready to work again. At Paddy's place, he and Francie run into Nicky.
'Uncle' Paddy explains that a priceless historical book needs to be stolen from a Customs warehouse in Canada and taken to the buyer's middle man in Detroit. The payout is over a million dollars so they agree. Crunch insists on recruiting an old partner, Guy de Cornet, for his skills and talent in forgery. Cornet creates an exact replica of the book which Crunch takes through the Canadian border station hidden inside a peculiar piece of art. An identity check prompts the police to impound his art, as planned, in the same facility where the historical book is being held. Meanwhile, Guy de Cornet passes as an art authentication expert and enters the facility, replacing the real book with the forgery and hiding the real book within Crunch's art piece. After Canadian border patrol clears Crunch's name, he goes to the facility and reclaims his art piece.
The team is in the process of taking the book to the buyer when Nicky persuades Crunch to keep the book and forge multiple duplicates to sell to multiple buyers at the same time, netting them several times the original payout. They run into a snag when Cornet reveals that in order for him to create forgeries that would pass such tests as carbon dating and professional scrutiny, they would need 750,000 dollars. Each person names an amount they could chip in and after some persuasion, Crunch agrees to fund the remaining amount. They agree not to contact one another until the required month has passed to conduct the transaction. Sometime during this month, Nicky secretly plots to create his own cheaper forgeries and beat his team at selling them to the same buyers. Nicky calls the original buyer and informs him that there will be a delay, but the buyer claims to know nothing about the deal. A frantic Nicky calls all people and organizations involved in the heist, learning to his dismay that they either could not be reached or had no knowledge of the book. Meanwhile, Crunch explains to his apprentice Francie how the historical book was a fabricated ploy and its true purpose was to steal the Georges Seurat painting from Nicky and make a great deal of money using Nicky's idea of multiple forgeries. Flashbacks reveal that Francie was the only one who did not know of the alternate plan. Meanwhile, Interpol receive an anonymous tip as to the whereabouts of Nicky and the painting that he stole from the partner that he double crossed earlier. The ending reveals the last player in Crunch's plan, an old reformed colleague of his by the name of Samuel Winters, who had been paired with the Interpol agent who had been watching them at the start of the plan.
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