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Keith Carradine, Shelley Duvall, John Schuck, Bert Remsen, Louise Fletcher ... see more see more... , Tom Skerritt , Ann Latham , Rodney Lee Jr. , Suzanne Majure , Eleanor Matthews , John Roper , Mary Waits , William Watters , Arch Hall Sr. , Nicholas Merriwether , Joan Tewkesbury , Pam Warner , Al Scott , Josephine Bennett , Walter Cooper , Max Lloyd Jones , Howard Warner

Released in the same 12-month span as Terrence Malick's Badlands (1973) and Steven Spielberg's The Sugarland Express (1974), Robert Altman's Thieves Like Us (1974) also tells a story of doomed outlaws... read more read more... in love. Depression-era criminals T-Dub (Bert Remsen), Chicamaw (John Schuck), and Bowie (Keith Carradine) band together to rob banks after escaping from a prison farm. Hiding out with Dee Mobley (Tom Skerritt) and Keechie (Shelley Duvall), and then with T-Dub's in-law Mattie (Louise Fletcher) between bank jobs, the three crooks are a loyal group, but increasingly sensational news accounts of their bloodless robberies force them to split up before their next crime. After a car accident, Chicamaw leaves the injured Bowie in Keechie's care. Love blossoms between the two naïfs, compelling Bowie to find a way to balance his bond to Keechie with his loyalty to his friends and the need for money to head for Mexico. With the law closing in, Bowie and Keechie learn the hard way about the finite honor among thieves, and the need to survive. Adapted from the same Edward Anderson novel as Nicholas Ray's They Live By Night (1949), Altman, writers Calder Willingham and Joan Tewkesbury, and Altman's acting "regulars" reworked not just the classical crime movie but also the 1967 hit Bonnie and Clyde, presenting a resolutely unglamorous portrait of this Coke-swilling outlaw couple and the survivors' stoic drive to carry on. With the radio providing soundtrack and commentary, and the newspapers sending a veiled warning, Bowie and Keechie cannot escape the outside world, but they also cannot transcend it into the realm of myth. Rather than turning the crimes into stylish exploits, Altman's camera remains outside most of the robberies, observing the banal action on the street; he saves the slow-motion in the climactic shoot-out for the witnesses rather than the dead. His zoom shots hover between fragments of emotion and place, while they maintain their observational distance. Unfortunately for Altman (and Malick and Spielberg), audiences preferred outlaw glamour to genre-bending introspection. Still, with its deceptively laid-back tone, eye for expressive detail, and ear for ironic juxtaposition, Thieves Like Us takes its place in Altman's exceptional body of early 1970s work. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

Flixster Users

65% liked it

769 ratings

Critics

88% liked it

17 critics

R, 2 hr. 3 min.

Directed by: Robert Altman

Release Date: February 11, 1974

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DVD Release Date: April 17, 2007

Stats: 98 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (98)

  • fb1664868775
    October 27, 2011
    fb1664868775
    A minor work for Altman but still another exceptional film in his genre experimentation period.
  • kenstachnik
    September 6, 2010
    kenstachnik
    Altman does Bonnie & Clyde.
  • rubystevens
    March 18, 2009
    rubystevens
    altman's idiosyncratic update of nicholas ray's they live by night. carradine and duvall are sweet and gawky as the doomed lovers. great soundtrack of depression era radio shows really sets the mood. a somewhat forgotten altman but i think it's every bit as good as ray's film i... read moref not better. the source novel from 1937 was inspired by the real lives of bonnie and clyde. of course, being an altman film, it's more about the characters than the plot
  • gator681
    January 18, 2008
    gator681
    [font=Century Gothic]Robert Altman's problematic approach is again on full display in "Thieves Like Us" which is about three escaped convicts in 1937 Mississippi.(Well, escape is too strong a word. Strolling is more like it.) Of the three, T-Dub(Bert Remsen) and Chicamaw(John S... read morechuck) are bankrobbers while the youngest, Bowie(Keith Carradine), was in jail for murder but has dreams of playing professional baseball. He also takes a liking to Keechie(Shelley Duvall) at a hideout while the three plan robberies.[/font]
    [font=Century Gothic][/font]
    [font=Century Gothic]"Thieves Like Us" is an exquisitely staged(the radio broadcasts are a nice touch) and very well acted movie but it does ramble on a bit. Plus, it is good that these bank robbers are not glamorized nor romanticized but considering they are working in the Deep South of the Great Depression, it is sad that politics never enter the equation.(There is a casual mention of a lynching on the radio.) And Altman's emotionally remote style does not make it easy to relate to the characters.[/font]
  • jackamaku
    May 25, 2008
    jackamaku
    Based on the same book that 'They Live By Night' was, but I enjoyed this version a little more. Both Carradine and Duvall are very likeable. Great overlooked Altman.
  • codyfranklin2
    May 21, 2008
    codyfranklin2
    Great story about 3 bank robbers who's personalities begin to change as they become more successful.Great use of radio programs as the soundtrack and beautiful photography.
  • jusstpete
    May 13, 2012
    jusstpete
    Based on the same book that 'They Live By Night' was, but I enjoyed this version a little more. Both Carradine and Duvall are very likeable.

View All Thieves Like Us Reviews

Critic Reviews

Jay Cocks
May 23, 2011
Jay Cocks, TIME Magazine

In many ways, Thieves Like Us is Altman's best work yet, his most stringent and evocative. Full Review

Don Druker
May 23, 2011
Don Druker, Chicago Reader

At times unbearably objective. Full Review

Variety Staff
July 6, 2010
Variety Staff, Variety

Thieves Like Us proves that when Robert Altman has a solid story and script, he can make an exceptional film, one mostly devoid of clutter, auterist mannerism, and other cinema chic. Full Review

Vincent Canby
May 9, 2005
Vincent Canby, New York Times

It is full of things to think about, that hang in the memory like the details of a banal crime story on page 32, which, though read quickly, won't go away. Somehow you know that this happened. Full Review

Roger Ebert
October 23, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Altman may not tell a story better than any one, but he sees one with great clarity and tenderness. Full Review

May 23, 2011
TV Guide's Movie Guide

A 1930s crime story with humor and humanity. Full Review

Tim Brayton
September 20, 2007
Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy

A sleepy film about a motley collection of dim, but well-meaning failures. A perfect Altman film, in other words. Full Review

Steve Crum
August 14, 2007
Steve Crum, Video-Reviewmaster.com

Great Altman film with strong work by Carradine and Duvall.

Chris Barsanti
May 21, 2007
Chris Barsanti, Filmcritic.com

a daffy mix of purposefully bad jokes and often aimless ponderings Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
April 18, 2007
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Captivating remake of Nicholas Ray's They Live By Night. Full Review

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