Date: July 21, 2008
Location: Clifton Living Room
After the sleek perfection of the heists in Ocean’s 11 through 13, it’s refreshing to see a good old-fashioned “bank job” as sloppy as the one in this Roger Donaldson crime caper. There is nothing elegant about this group of men (and one woman) tunnelling from an abandoned leather shop under a Chicken Inn and into the vault of a corner bank in London. And they are woefully unprepared to deal with the repercussions of stealing what’s contained there.
The film is based on a heist in 1970s London that was overheard by a HAM radio operator and instantly shrouded in mystery. The events were kept out of the press (suggesting government involvement) and nobody knows exactly how much loot and cash was stolen, as few of the victims would come forth to admit what they’d stashed in their safety deposit boxes.
The writers have gathered up a stack of rumors and urban legends about those events and compiled tham into an entertaining yarn about a group of earnest small-time crooks who get in way over their heads.
The heist is set up by the British government as a ploy to get rid of some photos of Princess Margaret engaged in some very un-princess-like acts. The owner of those photos, a Black militant named Michael X, is using them to blackmail his way out of some legal trouble. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg… the vault also contains another set of compromising photos (government officials this time) and a ledger implicating a host of crooked cops. Talk about a perfect storm.
Tough guy Jason Statham is effective as the family man leading the crew of amateur thieves. This is a more measured, plot-driven film than his usual bludgeon fests and he delivers. The film does a nice job of delving into the back room dealings of MI-6 and the police force, a porn king and a madam, with a side trip to the Trinidad love nest of Michael X.
It’s not perfect (some tonal shifts in the second half are a bit abrupt, and one fistfight seems lifted from a more typical Statham movie) but The Bank Job is a great tale and a fascinating look at a time and place I knew next to nothing about.
Meet Me In Montauk 
We thought the movie was very entertaining. Since the English accent can sometimes be hard to understand, I put had the subtitles on so that we could “hear” all the dialog. This was very helpful as there were some funny as well as informative lines we would have missed. Glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks for the review. We were on the fence about renting this one even though we like Jason Statham. Based on your good review, it is now happily on our queue. 🙂
By the way, what put us on the fence was another recent J.S. rental – In the Name of the King – which I chose solely based on the cast (including Ray Liotta, Claire Forlani and Burt Reynolds). I thought it might be decent, certainly worthwhile as a rental, but boy was I wrong. It is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. I usually predict what will happen in a movie and Carlos tells me to be quiet. This time, HE was calling things before they happened – with frightening accuracy – and they were all ridiculous. It was really bad. So, if you’re tempted for similar reasons, don’t waste your time. 🙂
I agree fully, right down to the mood- shifting fight in the waning moments of the film. No doubt the “true life” elements of the film were dramatized and exaggerated, but the basic details were right out of the headlines and were dramatic enough without embellishment. Ditto to mom’s comment about the sub-titles. I wish I had that option on every film. The mumbling that goes on in modern films is maddening.