The Hot Rock (1972)

“Now, listen, I didn’t tell the doctor about you being in prison. I figure, why undermine his confidence? He wants the best for his money. Not that you’re not the best. But a layman might wonder why you’re all the time in jail. ” – Kelp

Number of Times Seen – Twice (8 Nov 2001 and 1 Oct 2019)

Brief Synopsis – A group of thieves are tasked with stealing a precious diamond, but end up needed to steal it from various locations numerous times.

My Take on it – This is a film that I saw years ago yet didn’t recall anything about it so I decided to refresh my memory.

They do a great job here creating a very clever diamond heist story that is able to raise the level of suspense to a high level especially since we get to see these criminals plan their crime over and over in different locations throughout the course of the movie.

The film has a superb cast that is led by Robert Redford and George Segal who both are able to do some very fun things with their roles.

Zero Mostel is superb in a key supporting role and manages to steal every scene that he is in.

He is, by far, the most memorable part of this film.

The way that this movie is able to blend together comedy and drama during a heist works really well and adds so much to the suspense of this film as the characters get deeper and deeper into this crime caper and need to find a way to extract themselves from it all.

Bottom Line – Very clever heist film that raises the level of suspense since we get to see how they must plan and execute different plans throughout the course of the story. The cast is great with Redford and Segal doing really fun jobs with their roles. Mostel tough, steals every scene that he appears in and is the most memorable part of this movie. The film manages to blend together comedy and suspense really well as these characters get deeper and deeper into this crime caper. Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Writer Donald E. Westlake stated in an interview that “The Hot Rock” started out to be one of his darker Richard Stark/Parker novels, but that “it kept turning funny.” (From IMDB)

Rating – Globe Worthy (7/10)