The Great Train Robbery

In 1855 England, two criminals (Sean Connery and Donald Sutherland) set out to commit the first successful robbery of a moving train.

The First Great Train Robbery is a descent heist film that should have been great.

Sean Connery is, as always, good in the lead. He handles the script’s dramatic, comedic, and action elements with ease, and is fun to watch. Donald Sutherland, however, lacks Connery’s charm and is somewhat ill fitting as a Victorian rogue. That’s not to say Sutherland is bad, but rather that after seeing Connery and Michael Caine’s chemistry in The Man Who Would Be King you’re bound to think this picture would have been a perfect re-teaming.

Indeed, the casting of Caine and a reunion with director John Huston could have made all the difference in the world. While writer/director Michael Crichton does a very competent job, there’s a certain sense of atmosphere that’s missing. This has everything to do with the little things. While Crichton makes sure the costumes and sets are all suitable to the period, they don’t seem authentic. The clothes aren’t dirty and the sets aren’t messy. The First Great Train Robbery feels well produced, but not lived in.