YMMV / Thief (1981)

• Awesome Music: The entire soundtrack by Tangerine Dream.
• Retroactive Recognition:
  • Former Chicago PD detective Dennis Farina, while doing technical advising on the film, had his first film acting role here as one of the gang henchmen.
  • Also, William Petersen, who appears briefly as a bouncer. He's the guy who tries to come to Jesse's aid when she's chewing out Frank for being two hours late to their date.
• Suspiciously Similar Song: The final scene is backed with an almost-cover of "Comfortably Numb" because Mann wanted the original song playing over the ending, but was unable to get it because of licensing costs. Doubles as What Could Have Been.
• Values Dissonance: While the protagonists are already anti-heroes, their rough treatment of women comes across as even less sympathetic than it likely did in 1981. Early in the film, Frank manhandles Jesse during an argument to a degree that, in any modern film, would immediately establish him as an abusive boyfriend and a straight villain. Near the end of the film, Barry delivers a running football tackle to his girlfriend at the beach, knocking her ass over teakettle into the surf. It's presented as playful frolicking, but it'd be unlikely to come off that way in modern times.

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