GRAND SLAM. An excellent, unjustly forgotten heist film

Janet Leigh and Klaus Kinski in the cast, Ennio Morricone on the soundtrack, the exotic scenery of Rio de Janeiro, and thrilling action—it’s truly hard to understand why Grand Slam has fallen into obscurity.

Respected American teacher James Anders returns from Brazil to the United States to assemble a team for a diamond heist during the Rio de Janeiro Carnival. With the help of his old friend Milford—who, under the guise of a legitimate business, operates a criminal enterprise—Anders recruits four experts in different fields: German commando Erich, British safecracker Gregg, Italian electronics specialist Agostino, and French playboy Jean-Paul, who is tasked with seducing Mary Ann, the woman holding the key to the building where the diamonds are stored. The team must devise a strategy to break into the facility, open the safe, and steal the jewels. However, once they arrive, they discover that the room housing the safe is equipped with a cutting-edge, highly sensitive alarm system. The thieves have just one day to figure out a way around this unexpected security measure.

The term heist film refers to a movie centered around an armed robbery, a daring theft, or a heist targeting a bank, casino, betting shop, or other location with valuable loot. These valuables can include money, gold, and jewels, but also confidential documents or compromising photographs. In a heist film, the actual execution of the crime is just as crucial as the meticulous preparation process and its aftermath—depicted from the criminals’ perspective rather than law enforcement’s. Some of the most famous films in this distinct crime subgenre include The Asphalt Jungle (1950) by John Huston, Rififi (1955) by Jules Dassin, The Killing (1956) by Stanley Kubrick, The Italian Job (1969) by Peter Collinson, Le Cercle Rouge (1970) by Jean-Pierre Melville, Vabank (1981) by Juliusz Machulski, Heat (1995) by Michael Mann, and Guy Ritchie’s films.

Grand Slam (Ad ogni costo—Italian for At Any Cost) remains overshadowed by these classics, despite matching or even surpassing many of them. One of Montaldo’s film’s greatest strengths is its international cast, featuring both A-list actors and B-movie stars: Janet Leigh (Mary Ann), Edward G. Robinson (Anders), Klaus Kinski (Erich), Riccardo Cucciolla (Agostino), George Rigaud (Gregg), Robert Hoffmann (Jean-Paul), and Adolfo Celi (Milford). Their characters are distinct, compelling, and marked by unique traits. While their psychological depth isn’t extensively explored, within the genre’s conventions, they work brilliantly—thanks to Montaldo’s sharp direction and a precise screenplay co-written by Mino Roli and Augusto Caminito. As a result, what might seem like a standard high-stakes heist story transforms into a gripping tale of crime, punishment, and betrayal, filled with unexpected twists.

This is where Grand Slam aligns with its esteemed predecessors, such as the works of Huston, Melville, and Kubrick. Unlike in lighthearted caper films like Oceans 11 (1960) by Lewis Milestone, crime here is not an exhilarating adventure—it’s grim, arduous, and fraught with real consequences, paid for in blood, sweat, and tears. Even if the heist succeeds, the entire operation proves disastrous for everyone involved. Montaldo’s dark finale portrays this in a way that is as nihilistic as it is simply realistic. In this game, there are no true winners, and no one escapes unscathed—not even the experts. Speaking of which, the laser-dodging scene in the safe room was nearly identical to the one in Entrapment (1999), where Catherine Zeta-Jones performed a similar maneuver. So maybe Grand Slam wasn’t entirely forgotten after all?