Back when Norton was still in short pants, Brando and De Niro were busy snagging Oscars for playing Don Corleone. So it seems a bit strange that the young Mr. Norton could give the capos so much agita in ''The Score.'' De Niro stars as an aging thief trying to gracefully segue out of the burgling racket. That is, until he gets suckered into one last heist by his eccentric mentor (Brando). The catch: He has to partner up with a hotheaded upstart (Norton), who doesn't much like taking advice.
Despite the film's intense trio -- whom director Oz calls ''the best actors of three generations'' -- ''The Score'' is almost as notable for the folks who didn't wind up in it: Michael Douglas (in De Niro's role) and Ben Affleck (in Norton's). But according to coscreenwriter Kario Salem (HBO's ''Don King: Only in America''), Brando was never in question. ''I wrote the part specifically for Brando,'' he says. ''I imagined him as a cross between Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams -- someone of great flamboyance and humor and wit and someone of great size, both literally and figuratively.''
Add your comment
The rules: Keep it clean, and stay on the subject or we might delete your comment. If you see inappropriate language, e-mail us. An asterisk * indicates a required field.