The Italian Job (DVD, video rental)

By EWAN McDONALD

(Herald rating: * * *)

Turin is not the most glamorous of Italian cities so when American director F. Gary Gray decided to remake this 1969 cult classic he shifted the Italian action to Venice.

In reality, since the Italian scenes are over and done with by halftime, he could just as easily have shifted the entire flick to LA, but The American Job doesn't sound half as glamorous.

To recap, for readers who weren't renting videos or playing DVDs in 1969: the original was a comedy-thriller starring Michael Caine, about a disorganised English gang who pulled off a bullion heist in Turin, using three super-charged Mini-Coopers to escape by driving through, over, under and around steps, cathedrals and a Fiat factory.

It became famous for one Caine line — "You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off" — and Noel Coward's final, very camp screen appearance.

In the new version, Donald Sutherland plays the mastermind, Mr Bridger, whose gang includes Charlie (Mark Wahl-berg), the strategic genius; Steve (Edward Norton), his offsider; Lyle (Seth Green), the computer guy; Handsome Rob (Jason Statham), the getaway driver; and Left-Ear (Mos Def), who blows up stuff.

They employ an ingenious way to steal $35 million in gold bars from a safe in a Venetian palazzo and are chased through the canals and meet up in an Alpine pass.

There is double-crossing and killing. Charlie and co. lose the gold by the time they are back in LA so, to get it back again, they hire Mr Bridger's daughter, Stella (Charlize Theron), who is an experienced safecracker.

Fortunately for the plot and the accountants who paid big money for the rights, Stella drives a bright red Mini Cooper, which BMW were decent enough to start producing just in time for this movie. And soon there are three Minis, which is handy because you can drive little cars down the stairs and along the subway tracks and through LA traffic jams, and a Toyota Echo is not as glamorous.

In the end it doesn't really matter if you remember the original with affection or nostalgia because there are a lot of similarities. The title. The cars. The fact that, like the original, it's just a big dumb action movie with a rambling and inconsequential plot but a great ending. Oh, and Edward Norton's character watches Alfie on TV. So it's got Michael Caine, too.

DVD features: movie (110 min); Petal To the Metal: Making of ... feature; Putting the Words on the Page feature; Driving School feature; The Mighty Minis feature; High Octane: Stunts feature; 6 deleted scenes.