Down-and-out Weslake is reduced to minding the counter at a San Francisco pawn shop when he stumbles onto a scheme by some of the boss's disgruntled misfit clients to rob the place. Rather than blow the whistle, however, he insinuates himself as the heist's mastermind.
Acting
Sean Penn's wild-eyed punk energy steals every frame.
Direction
Malle treating lowbrow material like art house poetry.
Director
Louis Malle
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
A remake of Mario Monicelli's 1958 Italian classic Big Deal on Madonna Street, transplanted to Reagan-era desperation.
Malle was so disappointed with the final film that he essentially buried it; it remains one of his least-seen works despite the stacked cast.
US
