Street Thief

When i heard about street thief the other day from my brother i had to immediately add it to my netflix list. This is a documentary from A&E indie films. The director is Malik Bader, a newcomer to the film world. The director is also the star, Kasper Carr. Kasper Carr is a burglar by trade, and this film chronicles his methods. The film opens up with him robbing a supermarket, and then it goes into a series of interviews with Carr, and behind the scenes shots on how to be a criminal. What makes this particular film stand out from all others i have seen, is that it is a documentary that is completely made up but it is not a mockumentary like the angle that most of these contrived accounts take. The character of Kasper Carr is played by the director and played extremely well. It is mostly filmed with a hand held camera, with a few scenes done with a tri pod for interviews. Going into the film i knew how it was done, but i became completely immersed in the character of Carr and was believing everything he said and did. At one point in the film Carr calls off the whole project when one of the cameramen gets spooked when Carr allows them to come on a job. That was a huge emotional pull for me, i felt for him and i was just as angry he was. Most of the film is shot at night when Carr does his "casing" of a "joint" and this is the most interesting part of the film. Seeing the ins and outs of how to rob a store or hot wire a car are so gritty and then you have to remember that it is all contrived, and you think "wow this director has some serious creativity. This is definitely one of the most creative and ambitious films i have seen in a while. I will back up my claims because i know those two words are weak without support. Its ambitious in the sense that if you do not write a believable character or get the right actor to carry it out it will fail on every single level. Also they created a relationship between Carr and the documentary team that was extremely tense and raw.