The Anderson Tapes

1971

Action / Crime / Thriller

15
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 53% · 20 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 53% · 1K ratings
IMDb Rating 6.4/10 10 9954 10K

new york city robbery based on novel or book internal affairs surveillance ex-con

Plot summary

Thief Duke Anderson—just released from ten years in jail—takes up with his old girlfriend in her posh apartment block, and makes plans to rob the entire building. What he doesn't know is that his every move is being recorded on audio and video, although he is not the subject of any surveillance.

Director

Sidney Lumet Photo
Sidney Lumet

Top cast

Charles Frank Photo
Charles Frank as Ambulance Attendant
Carmine Caridi Photo
Carmine Caridi as Detective A
Garrett Morris Photo
Garrett Morris as Sergeant Everson
Val Avery Photo
Val Avery as Rocco Parelli
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
909 MB
1280*714
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 38 min
Seeds 3
1.82 GB
1920*1072
English 5.1
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 38 min
Seeds 8

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by astacvi-1 5 / 10

I'm still confused.

There's a reasonably interesting heist movie in here, and some understated commentary on our surveillance society (particularly relevant as I write this in the summer of 2013.) Unfortunately, they are mismatched parts that never quite come together into one film.Sean Connery was clearly trying to escape the penumbra of James Bond here, playing a much coarser character and working without toupee. He's actually pretty good, with the exception of the dreadful accent he attempts. It's a bizarre Brooklyn/Scottish hybrid, and come to think of it, sort of fitting for this movie: two things that don't really mesh but are jammed together anyway.Martin Balsam and an extremely young Christopher Walken are the standouts among the supporting cast. Balsam seems to have somehow channeled Harvey Fierstein from the future, almost but never quite going over the top. Walken is mesmerizing in a very small role, showing even at his young age the physical grace and edgy unpredictability that would come to define him.I must make special mention of the dreadful score. It's distracting and awful, almost certainly the lowlight of Quincy Jones's career.Ultimately, and unfortunately, this film just doesn't quite work. It can't seem to decide what it wants to be. It's kind of funny, kind of suspenseful, kind of socially critical, kind of dramatic, but in the end not really anything very specific. I can usually decipher what a movie has attempted, even if it fails, but in this case I just don't know. It's a confusing, strange melange of recognizable parts that never form a consistent whole.
Reviewed by moonspinner55 7 / 10

Well-played character-oriented heist flick

Recently-paroled master thief Sean Connery plots one last job: robbing the residents of an entire New York apartment house on a holiday weekend! Engaging heist flick, adapted from Lawrence Sanders' novel by Frank Pierson and directed by Sidney Lumet, takes a dark turn towards the end--much like Pierson and Lumet's later "Dog Day Afternoon" in 1975. The title-named tapes are a bluff (and, when revealed as such, more perplexing than amusing) and the asides with Connery and "kept woman" Dyan Cannon don't add up to much, though she's still nice to have around in the first-half. Pierson's character profiles and dialogue are expressive and sharp, and there are wonderful supporting performances by Martin Balsam, Alan King, and Christopher Walken in his film debut. Connery is terrific as well, but some viewers may not like the downbeat third act. The joshing tone gives out, replaced with action and consequences, yet it's all quite marvelous from a filmmaker's standpoint. *** from ****
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