Coming on the heels of so many movies featuring talking animals, video-game adaptations, and overwhelming special effects, The Score renews my faith in the ability of great actors to make magic on the big screen. Marlon Brando, Robert DeNiro, and Edward Norton needed nothing but their facial expressions, body language, and expressive voices to pull me into their plans for stealing a priceless antique. A slight turn of the head, a simple raised eyebrow, a well-timed sigh, an unexpected vocal inflection -- little nuances like these reeled me in and held me captive throughout this intense crime thriller.

I do, however, feel a bit ashamed for wanting the criminals to succeed. (I confess to having a soft spot in my heart for movie bad guys, going all the way back to Jimmy Cagney and Edward G. Robinson.) Even during the opening credits, my sympathy for Nick (DeNiro, Oscar-winner for Raging Bull) kicked in. Discovered in the act of robbing a safe, he improvises a getaway and returns to the haven of his jazz club in Montreal. Staring into the camera as he rests in his snazzy apartment above the club, this world class safe cracker looks about as unhappy as a man can be. Clearly, he wants out. But, in the tradition of most heist movies, there's one last score that will enable him and his girlfriend (Angela Bassett, Oscar-nominee for What's Love Got To Do with It?) to live happily ever after.

While I have trouble understanding why someone becomes a thief, I confess to being tempted once. Visiting the Hollywood Wax Museum a few years ago, I spotted Judy Garland's ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz gleaming at me from a glass display case. After leaving the tour, I couldn't stop thinking about those legendary shoes. I wanted them for my very own! A colleague of mine felt the same way. But we didn't resort to stealing. Instead, we began writing a script about a group of children who outsmart Museum officials by substituting a fake pair for the real slippers, then having a change of heart.

I'm sure Jack, the character played by Edward Norton in The Score, had no such sentimental attachment to the jeweled royal scepter he discovered in Montreal's Customs House. For him, the money's the thing -- as well as the challenge of working with a master thief like Nick. Not surprisingly, Norton impressed me again with a quasi-dual role similar to his Oscar-nominated performance in Primal Fear. Razor-sharp Jack becomes Brian, a mentally-challenged janitor employed in the well-protected Customs House. (Is there another actor who can change completely from one character to another in the blink of an eye quite as effectively as Norton?) Ambitious, and angry because he perceives a lack of respect from Nick, Jack puts his partner through an unnecessary waiting pattern that made my blood run cold. The sadistic look on Norton's face in this suspenseful scene gave me the kind of chills I experienced while watching Hannibal Lecter's famous dinner party. And Norton had no help from bloodshed or gore!

Playing Max, a fence who brings Nick and Jack together, Brando adds more than his gigantic bulk to this key supporting role. The minute he appeared on screen in his wrinkled white suit and announced impishly, "Back from Bermuda," he had my undivided attention. During his limited time on camera, I was reminded why he won Oscars for On the Waterfront and The Godfather. Brando is one of the few actors I can actually see thinking while he's emoting. Although not in enough scenes here, a little Brando is better than no Brando at all.

The Score falls short of being a great movie. By focusing on clashes among criminals and a thief’s desire to go straight, it covers all too familiar territory (Gone in 60 Seconds, 3000 Miles to Graceland, The Mexican, and so forth). Its helpful tips for wannabe safe crackers also disturbed me. Still, I can't remember when I've seen a film with better performances. It made me hungry for more movies in which brilliant actors rule the silver screen.

(Released by Paramount Pictures and rated "R" for language.)