Whitech It is not only a funny movie, but it allows a great amount of joy for anyone who watches it.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Bergorks If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Sameeha Pugh It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Wizard-8 Although "The Thief Who Came to Dinner" has been branded a comedy, it really isn't - it's more of a drama with some lighter moments. The lighter moments, incidentally, aren't really all that amusing, possibly because they try to be extremely realistic at the same time instead of doing something absurd or satirical. The movie isn't that much more successful in the drama portion. There are some interesting ideas floated around, like the fact that the title character has an interest in being in high society, but these ideas don't really get worked on that much. The performances are okay; Ryan O'Neal does make his thief character somewhat likable (until the climatic museum heist, where he hurts people), and Warren Oates gives another solid performance, though he isn't give that much of substance to do. In the end, the movie is pretty forgettable, so much so that this die hard movie buff hadn't even heard of this movie until it appeared recently on Turner Classic Movie's schedule.

jeffmclachlan2000 Look, this is 2010 or later. You've checked out Serpico, Mean Streets, The Godfather---all the obvious choices. But I just watched The Thief Who Came to Dinner last night, and it made me realize that there's probably a lot I've been missing. A lot of terrific movies that were maybe ignored or under-estimated when they first came out (for some reason or another) that are actually pretty great.Let me put it to you this way. if you're a guy (or a gal) with a sort of boring job, who's occasionally fantasized about chucking it all and just becoming a professional jewel thief---this is the movie you want to live in. Ryan O'Neal is handsome and charming, Jacqueline Bisset is beautiful, and Warren Oates is very Warren Oates-y. The story(by Walter hill, based on a novel) works, and you won't be left hanging by some typical early 70's drag ending (thank God)---I don't know what else to say. The Thief Who came to Dinner is a really good time. It should have made $100 million dollars in 1973. It's a tragedy (possible slight overstatement) that it didn't.

Marco Trevisiol Considering that its been close to forgotten, TTWCTD was a pleasant and substantial surprise when I watched it a few years ago.This is far from a perfect film as it has several flaws. While the caper scenes involving central character Webster McGee's (Ryan O'Neal) are entertaining enough they're hardly groundbreaking and have been done better in other films. And as another reviewer said, the film probably could've done without the segment involving the arrogant chess expert Zukovsky (played by Austin Pendelton). While not without humour, in the context of the rest of the film it's played too broadly by Pendelton and doesn't really fit in.But there is much of interest in this film that make it well worth catching up with. The central romance between O'Neal and wealthy socialite Jackie (who gives him his chance to move into the upper echelons of society) played by Jacqueline Bisset isn't really that convincing, perhaps deliberately so. McGee's attraction to the vacuous and cold Laura only makes sense in the context of Jill Clayburgh's performance as McGee's ex-wife Jackie. In her brief on-screen time, Jackie comes across as a far more likable persona then the cold and chilly Laura (doubtless this is also because Bisset has always come across as a cold and unlikable personality for mine). But we can see in Jackie's one scene with Webster that she has tics and neuroses that remind Webster of his past and he has moved on with someone far more frivolous and insubstantial.But the really fascinating part of the film is the relationship between McGee and the insurance investigator Dave Riley. If this film were made today, Riley would most likely be portrayed as a harried, bumbling 'loser' with McGee (and the filmmakers) regularly mocking his failure to catch him at every turn.But TTWCTD does something highly unusual and daring. It has McGee display immense sympathy and empathy for Riley even as he's doing his best to catch him. Why? Because he knows that he was just like him previously - someone stuck in a dead-end job trying to do their best but feeling immensely dissatisfied about their life and feeling helpless to do anything about it.It's this relationship which is the real strength of the film, helped especially by Oates' marvellous performance as Riley and helps it stay in the memory long after one has finished watching it.And while it has its detractors, I also found Henry Mancini's music score very pleasing on the ear.

NCYankee In 1973, the best chess programs running on the fastest supercomputers could barely play a passable game of chess, much less challenge a master level player such as the Austin Pendleton character would be (newspaper chess columnist for the Houston Chronicle).