Movies and heists are the perfect pairing. Both require a perfect crew, a ton of charisma, and clockwork precision in an environment where everything is ready to go wrong. Though we’ve been trained to understand that the perfect crime is as rare as the treasures that movie thieves endeavor to steal, few things top the satisfaction of watching it all come together and fall apart. The best heist movies draw us in time and time again to the illusion of it all.
And while we’re here to celebrate the best heist movies, please note that identifying a heist movie can be as tall of a task as pulling off the perfect plan. I generally tried to draw a line between crime films, con artist movies, simple robberies, and the heist genre itself. It’s a thin line, but the best heist movies typically focus on the job, the crew, the plan, and, more often than not, the fallout.
15. Dead Presidents (1995)
“It’s not your fault you’ve been brainwashed by America.” With these words, revolutionist Delilah Benson offers cold comfort to returning Vietnam War vet Anthony Curtis and neatly summarizes the spirit that elevates this heist film from directors Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes.
Much like they did with Menace II Society, the Hughes brothers use this story of people forced to turn to a life of crime to shine a light on the struggles that plague many Black people who’ve been forced to the outskirts of society. With Dead Presidents, though, they zoom out a bit further to look at how so many soldiers returning home from war (especially the Vietnam War) were forced into lives back home they never imagined they would have to suffer through. It’s heavy material but the Hughes Brothers keep it infinitely watchable thanks to their incredible visual style, some killer performances, and one of the best soundtracks of the ‘90s.
14. Three Kings (1999)
Director David O. Russell was reportedly drawn to the concept for Three Kings as soon as he saw the words “heist set in the Gulf War.” From there Russell proceeded to piss off pretty much everyone (including story creator John Ridley and star George Clooney) as he shepherded that brilliant elevator pitch through a nightmarish filming process. And while the director ultimately delivered a heist movie set in the Gulf War, somewhere along the way, Three Kings became something much greater.
As it turns out, much of the drama in Three Kings doesn’t come from three soldiers trying to find a fortune in gold bullion during the final days of the Gulf War. That part proves to be surprisingly simple. Things become far more complicated when those same soldiers try to overcome the moral dilemma of what they are about to get away with. Three Kings features the kind of nuanced observations about America’s involvement in the Middle East that we wouldn’t see again for a long time after 9/11. It also wraps them around an incredible heist adventure that tackles the ethics of thievery.
13. The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)
At the risk of needlessly glorifying crime, it must be said that there is something especially slick about being an art thief. Anyone can recognize at least the monetary value of stealing cash or jewels, but art thieves inherently exhibit a taste for the finer things in life. That suave criminality is a big part of the reason why 1999’s The Thomas Crown Affair stands out from the pack.
While this 1999 remake of the 1968 original movie benefits from improved pacing (what else would you expect from legendary action director John McTiernan?), the heart of the film is still its two leads. Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo enjoy a genuinely sexy (and refreshingly age-appropriate) love affair based on their desires, interests, and growing respect for each other’s abilities. It all builds toward a genius final heist that nourishes the soul and mind.
12. Hell or High Water (2016)
Hell or High Water dances around that thin line which separates the heist genre from other crime films, but it’s ultimately too difficult to ignore the ways this movie views the economic and class factors that contribute to the decision to “steal.”
Written by Taylor Sheridan of Yellowstone fame, Hell or High Water focuses on two brothers who begin to rob banks to fulfill that timeless storytelling goal: saving the family farm. Essentially a Western heist film, Hell or High Water is packed with people trying to carve something for themselves out of a corner of the world that time seems to have forgotten. The desperation of criminality is brilliantly explored in this movie that suggests “getting even” is another way to say you are merely trying to free yourself of impossible debts.
11. A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
Given that many movie heists ultimately go wrong in spectacular ways, it’s a little surprising that there aren’t more (or better) comedy heist flicks. Even if there were, it would be hard for them to beat the offbeat brilliance of A Fish Called Wanda.
What would otherwise be a relatively straightforward heist story about a jewelry robbery soon becomes complicated by both criminal circumstances and the truly unhinged personalities of the job’s willing (and unwilling) main players. Yes, Kevin Kline steals the show in a performance that is more Oscar worthy than it is typically remembered as, but the real joy is found in witnessing the ensemble constantly try to get one over each other, even when they are theoretically working together.
10. Inception (2010)
It feels odd to call Inception a heist movie. It most certainly is, but Christopher Nolan’s story of a group of operatives who perform corporate espionage by diving into people’s dreams goes to such… places that it’s sometimes easy to forget that there’s a heist at the heart of it all.
Yet it’s that heist that allows Nolan to explore the wild conceptual and visual places he so often explores in Inception. The best heist stories are fundamentally twisty tales that find ways to keep us engaged through every turn. Nolan just takes that concept to entirely new levels by bending reality itself around the story of this crew trying to get the goods and get out before it all comes crashing down around them. By regularly returning to that simple genre conceit, Nolan delivers some of the most mind-bending concepts we’ve ever seen in a major release without losing too much of the enraptured audience.
9. The League of Gentlemen (1960)
There is a quaintness to The League of Gentlemen that speaks to both its pure, essential “Britishness” and the fact that it was made well before the typical heist movie formula was finalized. Some may even find this story of specialists slowly coming together to rob a bank a bit slow and familiar.
But The League of Gentlemen deserves a lot of love for being one of the earliest examples of this kind of “getting the gang together” style of heist film. It’s also one of the most lovable, clever, and strangely wholesome versions of that concept. Nothing is taken for granted in this foundational heist movie, and the cast and crew’s enthusiasm about the cleverness of the whole thing makes navigating those always enjoyable genre tropes (before they were tropes) that much more enjoyable. This also remains one of the best examples of a movie that wants us to love its thieves while still delivering the “crime doesn’t pay” finale that this era of film demanded.
8. Inside Man (2006)
I will eternally envy those who get to watch Inside Man for the first time. What begins as a seemingly standard tale of a cop trying to thwart a bank robbery that frankly feels below director Spike Lee’s standards morphs into one of the cleverest logistical heist films ever made.
Though many heist movies revolve around “the plan,” few movies celebrate the art of slowly watching that plan unfold as well as Inside Man does. Every piece reveals another layer about the growing cast of characters who are swept up in this incredible unfolding event. By the time you get to the final reveal, you’ll be reaching for a cigarette regardless of whether you ever smoked.
7. Sexy Beast (2000)
Though strangely conventional by director Jonathan Glazer’s standards, Sexy Beast is rather unconventional by those of the heist movie. The heist itself occurs at the very end of the film and is a remarkably low-tech affair that accentuates the brutality of its perpetrators rather than trying to wow you with their criminal cleverness. The bulk of the movie instead focuses on Gal: a former safecracker who receives an unwelcome visit from an old accomplice named Don Logan, who is determined to get him to pull off one last job.
As Don Logan, Sir Ben Kingsley delivers one of the greatest and most terrifying performances in the history of crime cinema. If anything, “in the history of crime cinema” is a superfluous qualifier that limits the scale of what he achieves in a taut 89-minute thriller. If you can look past Kingsley’s magnetic madness, you’ll find a quieter, slightly surreal film that gives the pull of the underworld a physical form and grapples with the horror of the idea that you’ve already made the decision that will define your life.
6. Jackie Brown (1997)
Jackie Brown is an airline stewardess who has just been caught smuggling cash for her gun-running employer. Her employer wants her dead, and the DEA wants her to cooperate. However, Jackie forms a bold plan to escape prosecution, steal her employer’s money, and cash out on the bad hand that life has dealt her.
Time is almost always a factor in heist movies. Crews are forced to race against the clock before the cops show up and the game is over. And while there is a time-sensitive plan to steal $500,000 in Jackie Brown, most of our characters are racing against time itself. In this brilliant thriller anchored by career-best performances from Pam Grier and Robert Forster, the only thing scarier than getting caught is realizing that you missed your shot. Due respect to Inglourious Basterds, but this character-driven heist thriller adapted from an Elmore Leonard novel may be Quentin Tarantino’s real masterpiece.
5. Le Cercle Rouge (1970)
In this Jean-Pierre Melville classic, three men at the end of their ropes find their way into each other’s lives just in time to pull off a spectacular jewelry heist. The setup may seem familiar to fans of the genre, but Melville is less interested in subverting the genre than he is in gathering and sharing every ounce of cinematic majesty that can be mined from that concept.
And unlike the film’s protagonists, we’re all left richer at the end of the experience. Le Cercle Rouge is perhaps the most visually striking heist movie ever made and one of Melville’s great stylistic achievements. The minimalist dialog allows us to lose ourselves in this tour of wonderfully imagined noir locales guided by some of the most cinematically cool, but morally empty, criminals you’ll spend time with on either side of the screen.
4. The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
After directing some of the greatest noir and adventure films ever made, John Huston decided to combine both styles in a crime movie that proved to be one of the foundational pieces of the entire heist genre. And while you could argue that any movie that combines John Huston in his prime, a young Marilyn Monroe, and the incomparable Sterling Hayden is bound to be at least entertaining, The Asphalt Jungle offers so much more than the pure wattage of its star power.
This story of criminals all trying to claim their piece of the perfect plan is wonderfully sweaty in the ways that only the best noirs from this era are. Desperate crooks gather in smoky backrooms to discuss the upcoming job with a kind of blue-collar professionalism that exhibits their casualness without underselling the scope of what they are about to do. While it shouldn’t surprise you to learn that things don’t go according to plan (it was 1950, after all), the way Houston empathizes and celebrates these criminals set us on the path for the next 75 years of filmmaking in the heist genre and far beyond.
3. Heat (1995)
Does any line summarize the heist genre as well as “don’t let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner”? While Michael Mann showcased his crime story credentials in his brilliant debut feature film, Thief, there are very good reasons why Heat is often thought of as the director’s definitive crime film.
Like the best heist crews, Heat features an all-star cast doing what they do best in almost perfect unison. While this movie is rightfully remembered for its breathtaking bank robbery shootout (perhaps the best shootout ever put on film), the many, many rewatches of this movie we’ve all enjoyed often reveal something equally incredible during those quieter moments. Heat may benefit from the gruff hyper-masculine coolness seen in the best David Mamet works, but it’s ultimately a story of professionals struggling to deal with how much of themselves they can leave behind.
2. Rififi (1955)
Made by blacklisted director Jules Dassin during his exile to France, Rififi exhibits that seemingly impossible blend of rage and craft that Dassin himself seemingly possessed at that unique time in his life. It may not be the first heist movie, but nearly every heist film that follows owes a debt to the way it balanced “the job” with what happens next.
Rififi’s stunning heist sequence (which is shot in real time and presented without dialogue) is conceptually brilliant and actually seems to go off without much of a hitch. The problems come later when the heist crew tries to work together in the world as they did on the job. Rififi explores the curse of sudden fortune by showing how money can not alter the paths that led to these men doing something so desperate in the first place.
1. Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
Many of the best heist movies ultimately deal with the futility and tragedy of crime. That’s understandable and morally responsible. However, we are also often attracted to heist movies because they are so damn cool. And while there are many cool criminals and crews in the wide world of heist films, no heist film is cooler than Ocean’s Eleven.
Steven Soderbergh’s story of a man named Danny Ocean, who is assembling the perfect heist crew after being paroled, is one of the most relentlessly entertaining movies ever made. Perfectly paced, gorgeously shot, and loaded with incredible performances, it’s even somehow cooler than the 1960 original that starred the Rat Pack. It rightfully remains the go-to option for millions who simply want to enjoy the art of the heist.
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