Delicious caper comedy gets by thanks to a witty, clever story, sharp pacing, and superb acting. Scripted by William Goldman, based on the novel by Donald E. Westlake, it stars Robert Redford as Dortmunder, a career criminal just getting out of prison who's immediately persuaded by his cheerful brother-in-law Kelp (George Segal) to participate in a job. The task is to steal a rare, very large diamond for Dr. Amusa (Moses Gunn), an official representing a fictional African country who insists that the gem belongs to his people.The hook of Westlakes' tale is that nothing seems to go right for our museum robbing "heroes". One frustrating thing after another happens, and the diamond thieves are obliged to, among other things, stage a raid on a police station!Redford is aces as Dortmunder, who tries to keep his head up in the face of so much chaos, swearing that he won't let this job get the better of him. He, Segal, Ron Leibman as Murch, and Paul Sand as Greenberg make for a pretty fun team. The rock solid supporting cast also features William Redfield, Charlotte Rae, Graham Jarvis, Harry Bellaver, and Lee Wallace. While everybody does fine work, the film just gets even better with the introduction of the legendary Zero Mostel as a wily attorney who just so happens to be Greenbergs' father.It's very entertaining to watch as our four main characters try to deal with each problem as it comes up. The script is very funny, and while there's not a lot in the way of action, it's decently executed. Nice use of locations, too, and a nice music score composed by Quincy Jones, who persuaded 20th Century Fox to make note of the individual musicians on the soundtrack.Followed by "Bank Shot", with George C. Scott in the Dortmunder role.Eight out of 10.

The Hot Rock has a soft spot in my heart because the area of Brooklyn where a lot of the film was shot, I know very well, Eastern Parkway, The Botanical Gardens and most of all The Brooklyn Museum I know very well from years of living in the Borough of homes and churches. The Brooklyn Museum is where the elusive Hot Rock resides or at least where it first resides.Robert Redford is released from prison and his brother-in-law George Segal is there to greet him. As Redford says to warden Graham Jarvis there ain't no chance in hell he's going straight. Straight into another caper that Segal has lined up for him with Ron Leibman and Paul Sand.The amiable team is hired by African ambassador Moses Gunn from some fictional central African country to get a national treasure, a rather large diamond on display at the Brooklyn Museum. They do steal the diamond, but through an incredible combination of circumstances have to plan and execute four different break-ins before The Hot Rock is in their hands. Redford and Segal display a good chemistry, as good as the fabled co-starring chemistry of Paul Newman and Robert Redford. Why they were not heralded as a buddy combination is beyond me.Stealing the film in whatever scenes they are in are shyster attorney Zero Mostel and his doofus of a son, Paul Sand. In the first caper at the museum, Sand gets caught and what he does with the diamond sets up the entire rest of the film.As for Zero we find he's an attorney with absolutely no scruples whatsoever, the kind they make excellent lawyer jokes about. But he does give us some excellent laughs.The Hot Rock is something on the order of an American domestic version of Topkapi. The laughs in it are good and strong, although some of the Seventies fashions make me wince. Despite that the film holds up well today. I'm surprised no one is thinking of remaking this one.

The Hot Rock might not be the pinnacle of cinematic greatness, but it's a well made and funny little crime caper, and I'm sure anyone with a mind to see it will enjoy it! The film is clearly not meant to be deep or thought provoking in any sense and was obviously made just for entertainment, and in that respect it succeeds admirably. The film is best described as a heist movie and only really has one original idea; that being the fact that the thing the criminals are stealing in this movie evades them constantly, leading to the planning of several heists. There's not really an idea other than that in the film, but it's stretched out nicely across a few well worked heists. Our main character is a man named Dortmunder. He's fresh out of jail and already being approached by an old contact wanting him to help pull another job. The job in question involves a team put together by Dortmunder stealing a huge diamond from a museum. After putting a plan together and pulling it off, they end losing the diamond and have to steal it again...and again and again.As you would expect considering the plot, the film doesn't take itself completely seriously and the plot is played out by a number of entertaining characters and in good humour. The film is not as stylish as some other crime films and the focus is put more on the execution of the numerous heists rather than the style of the film. The heists themselves get sillier as the film goes along; eventually building into a highly unlikely way of stealing a diamond. The film benefits from a strong cast, headed by the charismatic Robert Redford, who manages to lead the film effectively despite running on autopilot for most of it. Redford gets good support from the likes of George Segal and Paul Sand, but it's Zero Mostel who really steals the show as the unlikely villain of the piece. The plot moves along at a steady pace and the film fits it's one hundred minute running time very well in that it doesn't ever become boring, Even though certain parts of the film are hard to take seriously, it's easy to just sit back and enjoy it; and overall, if you're looking for an entertaining way to spend some time; you could do a lot worse than this.

I like Robert Redford and George Segal, but this was only a thoroughly average heist film where the two men get together with a couple of other guys and are paid in the neighborhood of $100,000 to steal a diamond from a museum. They manage to pull it off rather easily, but then other complications abound including Zero Mostel as a sneaky lawyer. This is too long and not terribly interesting throughout, though Redford and Segal are okay as the leads. I enjoyed some of the New York photography more than anything else here. Sadly, we also see the World Trade Center in its early stages of being built. ** out of ****