Heist Movie Bracket: Vote on the Final 4

By Jacob Skubish

Welcome to the Break-In Bracket, where we are voting for the best heist movie since 1975 in honor of the 45th anniversary of Dog Day Afternoon. Voting buttons for each matchup are below. You can follow along with the progress of the bracket here.

(2) Ocean’s Eleven vs. (2) Inside Man

The Matchup: Possibly my two favorite movies in the entire bracket, so I wish it hadn’t come down to this in the semi-final. I fully expect Ocean’s Eleven to win here. It’s been utterly dominant, and when you say “heist movie” it’s the first one I think of. It manages to have more than a dozen characters you care about, the heist itself is challenging and unpredictable, and it has the king of heist movies in George Clooney (I’ll get to that more in the next matchup).

But let me make the case for why I’m voting for Inside Man, my single favorite heist movie of all time, and it comes down to why heist movies are great as a genre. Fundamentally, heists are about justice. It’s not fun or interesting to take something for mere personal enrichment; the theft should have a deeper motivation, an intention to right a wrong. Inside Man has that. It’s fun as hell as a heist movie about some detail-oriented robbers and their face-off with Denzel Washington, but it gets even more interesting when you find out what they’re really after. Many heist movies try to be Ocean’s Eleven, but Inside Man is something entirely its own.

(6) National Treasure vs. (4) Fantastic Mr. Fox

The Matchup: I rewatched National Treasure this weekend for the first time since I was probably nine years old, and I have to say: this movie holds up. It’s about 35 minutes too long and contains one of the worst movie kisses I’ve ever seen (Diane Kruger should NOT date Nicolas Cage), but it’s a fun time. The movies gets pretty thin in its latter half: stealing the Declaration of Independence is awesome and the motivation makes sense, but it’s never really clear why Gates wants to find the treasure so badly, and when he gives it all away to the world’s museums at the end it’s kind of out of nowhere.

I expect National Treasure to win here, but my vote is going to Fantastic Mr. Fox. The animation is still absolutely stunning more than a decade later, and it’s my favorite movie Wes Anderson has made in the past 15 years. But the main reason I’m voting for it is the magic of George Clooney. He’s the undisputed king of heist movies; he had four movies in this bracket alone (Fantastic Mr. Fox, Ocean’s Eleven, Out of Sight, and Three Kings), and has starred in five other movies (Burn After Reading, Ocean’s Twelve, Ocean’s Thirteen, Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?, and The Monuments Men) that could conceivably count as heist movies.

Clooney’s suave charm is an obvious asset for him in heist films, allowing him to talk his way out of any situation. But I think what truly elevates him is his uncanny ability to form a genuine connection with anyone. You get the sense that, even when he’s conning someone, he really wants to understand them and form a relationship. Whether he’s helping Iraqi citizens in Three Kings, flirting with Jennifer Lopez in Out of Sight, or consoling a dying rat in Fantastic Mr. Fox, he’s always on your side, whether you’re working with him or being robbed. And that level of skill deserves to go to the championship.