Back in 1971, fresh off his last official James Bond film, Sean Connery was anxious to change his image. Flipping sides of the law to play a recently paroled thief, Connery nails that change in THE ANDERSON TAPES.
Connery is Duke, reuniting after a 10 year prison stint with his girlfriend Ingrid, played by Dyan Cannon in all her 70's glory.
Ingrid lives in a plush Central Park apartment furnished by her favorite john.
As Connery sees the building, he immediately begins casing the entire building for a labor day weekend robbery of all six apartments.
What he doesn't know that virtually every move he makes is being taped by the feds who are tracking the mob man, Angelo, the man financing the job.
Duke surrounds himself with a great team for the heist, including Christopher Walken in his first movie as "The Kid", already showing great acting talent and charm as a 27 year old actor. Martin Balsam plays against type as an antiques dealer queen with an eye for what they should grab and comedian Alan King shows great dramatic chops as Angelo the Mobster.
Director Sidney Lumet (Dog Day Afternoon, Network, Serpico) keeps things suspenseful, exciting and taut, with quite a bit of humor mixed in.
Quincy Jones's music score is at times annoying with electronic twangs and noises every time they show a tape recorder, but his jazz score that accompanies the heist in the film's last third is terrific.
Look for SNL veteran Garrett Morris as the lead cop during the burglary.
Connery is definitely the anti-007 in this role and he's great, tough, nasty and makes The Anderson Tapes worth a replay and a B.
Comments