James Caan’s favourite James Caan movie
The late, great James Caan enjoyed an absolutely extraordinary career on the screen, with many impeccable roles across the seven decades of his illustrious tenure. Chances are, most cinephiles are strongly attached to at least one movie from Caan’s acclaimed oeuvre.
His best-known role is probably Sonny Corleone in The Godfather. In that particular case, Caan damn near steals the entire film and gives a staggering performance in what is easily one of cinema’s most perfect movies. The character is only seen very briefly via flashback in The Godfather Part II, but Caan’s stellar work ensures that Sonny is remembered long after his grisly assassination in the first movie.
That being said, it’s not all about The Godfather. Caan has many other notable roles to his name, from his brilliant lead role in 1990’s Misery to his supporting role in the beloved Christmas classic Elf. The latter may well be many people’s favourite Caan movie, but what about Caan himself? What was his favourite?
Well, the work James Caan was most proud of wasn’t Elf or even The Godfather. It was 1981’s Thief, the directional debut of Michael Mann. A neo-noir heist flick, Thief stars Caan as a safecracker who is doing one last big job before leaving his life of crime behind. It was evidently the role that Caan held closest to his heart, and a big reason for this was the central part Caan himself had in making it happen, as he’d become an established star by the 1980s.
Talking to Bright Lights, he explained: “At the time, I was a big shot, and whatever I wanted to do, they did. I said I wanted to do this. Jerry Bruckheimer and my brother produced – and if you knew my brother, that’s hysterical. Those two guys producing it. And Michael – this little Napoleonic workaholic. This guy was nuts. But I liked it, that film, and that character. It’s one of my fondest memories.”
Prior to this, Mann had only really worked in TV, and without Caan on board, it’s quite likely that the production wouldn’t have gotten off the ground. Thief went on to launch Mann’s career, and he has become one of the finest American directors of his era, being responsible for stone-cold classics like Heat and Collateral.
Caan was less fond of Mann’s later work, but Thief remained an essential movie to him. It’s also a thoroughly accomplished and highly regarded crime thriller in its own right, as well as one of the most acclaimed works in the filmographies of both Mann and Caan himself.
