The Score

In The Score, a hard-boiled heist movie that stars Robert De Niro as a brooding master thief and Marlon Brando as a cagey old fence, the scene-stealer is Edward Norton, who plays a brash hotshot trying to outshine his partners in crime. Since his character spends half the movie posing as a simpleminded janitor while casing the joint they’re planning to rob, Norton is, in effect, giving a virtuoso dual-role performance. But ultimately the main attraction is the caper itself, which unfolds during a rivetingly suspenseful 38-minute climax. A smart thriller for grown-ups? What a quaint concept.