rooprect Sinatra: "What do you want? A million dollars?"Kidnapper: "That's not going to do it. We want $240 thousand."LOL"Stealing Sinatra" is a quiet little comedy about a bunch of dimwits trying to pull off a heist that's way out of their league. As straightforward entertainment, it's interesting & funny enough to keep you amused from start to finish. But for my money, I enjoyed it on a deeper level that tells the story of America's impending loss of innocence in the mid 60s following the single greatest wake up slap of the 20th century: the public assassination of President JFK. (And soon after, the public assassination of his accused assassin.)But that would come later. This movie is a clever snapshot of American life on the verge of a serious reality check. There are no bullet-blazing gun battles, no violent beatings and splashes of blood across the screen, no dark gritty angst and political subversion. The main criminal mastermind doesn't even curse (aside from hissing "oh... sugar!" when things go afoul). By today's standards, this would be the most boring caper ever. But that's precisely what makes it so interesting.David Arquette is perfect as "Barry", the criminal mastermind who looks like he'd be more natural selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door. William H. Macy is also perfectly cast as "Mr. Irwin" the confused, fatherly voice of reason, alternately dishing out Confucian wisdom and coaching Barry on how to be a better criminal. The supporting characters, Ryan Browning as criminal #3 "Joe", Thomas Ian Nicholas as the young deer-in-the- headlights kidnappee "Sinatra Jr." and of course a very convincing James Russo as Old Blue Eyes himself, make this a real treat to watch.Like I said, don't expect a crime caper thrill ride of any sort. While there are some good suspenseful moments, the real attraction of this film is in its subtle, humorous portrayal of American innocence, even in the midst of a felony. A unique cross between "Suicide Kings" and "The Brady Bunch", this is a very human story that could practically serve as a cultural document... if anyone cared. As the opening titles go: "In 1963, an event happened that rocked the nation. This is not that event. But it really did happen."

bkoganbing How well I remember the kidnapping of Frank Sinatra, Jr. which followed closely on the wake of JFK's assassination. At the time I kept thinking why of all celebrities would someone choose Frank Sinatra's family to victimize with all of that man's legal and extralegal resources? Yet three rejects from the gang that couldn't shoot straight actually did that incredible deed which fortunately for them, no harm, no foul and they all got incredibly early paroles. But the story of their trials and jail sentences is not told in this film.One factual error that was made was that the strategy of claiming that the whole thing was a publicity hoax that young Sinatra was in on was one used by their defense attorney later on at trial. The three perpetrators didn't claim that right away.Other than that, William H. Macy, David Arquette, and Ryan Browning are the three kidnappers in a story that sticks pretty factually close to the events as they happen. James Russo does a fine job playing the senior Sinatra, it's like seeing Old Blue Eyes himself. Fortunately the role did not call for singing like Sinatra.Showtime produced this film for their network and the plot centered around David Arquette playing Barry Keenan the organizer of the plot. His rather amoral character is gone into somewhat, the other two roles of John Irwin (William H. Macy) and Joe Amsler (Ryan Browning) are left kind of up in the air by the script.Stealing Sinatra is a factual retelling of one of the strangest events of the Sixties. A bit above average for a made for TV film.

rupture10 I don't know where to begin. Perhaps the whole idea of this movie was just a disaster waiting to happen. There is nothing slightly humorous about a kidnapping. I don't know what was more offensive--the subject matter or David Arquette's "performance". It was like watching a bull get it's penis cut off, although I think the bull felt better afterwards. The filmmakers should find something about Sinatra other than his son's kidnapping to show (like, I don't know, his TALENT AS A SINGER!!!!). His family shouldn't have to relive that horror. Thank GOD it was just shown on HBO and not released in theaters. Please don't watch this if you have any self respect.

Andrew_Bassett (Only light spoilers in here)Stealing Sinatra is a half-slapstick comedy about dimwit kidnappers, dimwit victims, and a few other side-stories thrown in to eat up some time.You will see some poor performances all around in this movie. The drama is forced, and the humor makes no sense. Whether you're watching the kidnappers threaten the victim who won't shut up, or a victim's father responding to the criminal's death threat with "Care for some tea?", none of it is believable. This quite comfortably fits into the "wannabe movie" category.You will also be listening to a repetitive goofy music track throughout pretty much the entire movie. It's quite unprofessional, and adds nothing. It's really just a sad attempt at making an achingly unfunny movie seem somewhat witty.However, if you're able to look past all of this and suspend a lot of disbelief, you might be entertained by the adequate storyline.I voted 4/10.