The latest "in the FXM rotation" selection

It seems about once a week lately, I've been getting around to watching a movie that started showing up in the FXM rotation within the past couple of months. This week, that movie is The Hot Rock. It's going to be on again tomorrow at 3:00 AM and 11:25 AM.

Robert Redford plays John Dortmunder, who at the beginning of the movie is being released from prison. Surprisingly, he doesn't seem to have anywhere to go are anybody to greet him upon being released, as he's just walking along the sidewalk. That is, until a car tries to run him down. That car is driven by Kelp (George Segal), who is Dortmunder's brother-in-law. Kelp is also looking to become one of Dortmunder's partners in crime, Dortmunder being a jewel thief and Kelp owning a store selling locks in New York City, this being the era when crime in the city was really becoming a huge problem.

Indeed, Kelp has a proposal for a heist for his brother-in-law. The Star of Sahara is a big diamond that is of interest to several African countries, currently being exhibited at one of New York's museums. Dr. Amusa (Moses Gunn) is the UN Ambassador from one of those countries, one which thinks that the diamond is rightfully theirs but has seen it be taken from them by various of their members. Amusa would like it back for his country, and is willing to offer up to $100,000 to Dortmunder and his partners, albeit with some conditions.

Dortmunder accepts the proposal, bringing along Kelp; Murch (Ron Leibman) as the getaway driver; and Greenberg (Paul Sand) as the explosives expert. After some staking out of the museum, Dortmunder decides that the best way to get the diamond is going to involve some sort of diversion tactic to get the guards away. Chaos ensues, and they get away with the diamond.

Well, not quite. Three of them get away, but not Greenberg, who has the diamond. He decides to hide it by swallowing it, obviously planning to recover it when he defecates it out of his system. (Obviously, this places a limit on the size of the diamond.) However, there's another problem. Greenberg is in detention long enough that he elminiates it before he's released, and has to hide it in the police precinct.

So the thieves are going to have to come up with a plan to infiltratate the police station, and get that diamond from where it's been hidden. It's a complicated plan involving helicoptering onto the roof, even though none of them can actually pilot a helicopter. But it works, and they get into the precinct. Except that the diamond is no longer there. Greenberg's father (Zero Mostel) is a shyster lawyer, and on one of his visits to Greenberg in detention he was able to get the diamond, which is now in his safety deposit box, where only he can get at it because the folks at the bank know his face and his signature.

The Hot Rock is another of those movies that has a really fun premise, but winds up not quite meeting those expectations. I think part of the reason is the Zero Mostel character, whom I found intensely irritating. Another part of it is because the movie felt even more unrealistic than other heist films. A lot of the noir era heist movies, while they do have their own plot holes, work better, but all of Dortmunder's partners seem too bumbling.

Still, Robert Redford is amiable enough that the movie is certainly not a complete failure or something that should be missed. It works well enough as light entertainment if you don't think too hard about what the characters are doing. The Hot Rock did get a DVD release, but it seems to be out of print.