When a safe-cracker, just sprung from prison after a ten year stint, borrows money from the mob to finance his latest operation, a burglary of every tenant in a posh Upper East Side flat, he finds himself being monitored from more angles than one, by a slew of government agencies looking to bring down his backers. "The Anderson Tapes" was adapted for the screen by Frank Pierson from Lawrence Sanders book, where it received a fairly inert treatment by master director Sidney Lumet in the film that reunited him with his "The Hill" star Sean Connery who is enjoyable in the lead role as the know nonsense and seemingly dimwitted ex-con. There are also some other notable performances here: Martin Balsam as a queen/fence, comedian Alan King playing a mob boss, and Christopher Walken in his film debut. The film itself though never seems to gel completely, and moves sluggishly until its fantastically clever closing scenes.
