The Bank Job

Customer Reviews

"There can be no connection to 5 or 6."

And that's where it gets interesting.

The Baker Street Gang hatches a plot to steal certain photographs of one of the Royal Princess' from a local bank being hoarded by drug kingpin and blackmailer. A crew of opportunist wannabe's is assembled, a crude plan is formed, then bang....off go the jackhammers. First half of the movie drags, and is very short on professionalism. Both the cops and robbers are exposed as pretty much being out of their element. Jason Statham doesn't do much to add to the excitement here and the rest of the cast is boringly British.

Second half of the movie will wake you up however, assuming you haven't lapsed into a coma by now. The intrigue builds as MI5/6 discovers there are more compromising photos belonging to one of the local Madames to procure. When the gang realizes the degree of trouble they're in, enter a local gangster who also had a set of books on safe deposit and Statham's crew is now between your proverbial rock and a hard place.

Its the second half of the film that makes it worth suffering through the first, the ending is right out of a (good) Guy Ritchie flick. Very well done. I just wish somebody would give Statham some acting lessons, he basically plays the same character here you have seen a dozen times in the last few years. 3 chips

The names of many of the people identified in this film have been changed to protect the guilty

Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais wrote the film "The Bank Job" is supposedly based on the true story. This can possibly explain the complexity of the film. The film is more of a documentary than a shootemup or car chase film. At first, it looks very formula. Later you get interested in how it comes out.

Seems like somebody high up any the government or the royal family made a faux pas. This ended up on some glossies that allowed a high-profile criminal to escape prosecution. These photos end up in a bank's safety deposit box. A shady car dealer Terry (Jason Statham) is convinced to Rob the safety-deposit bank vault without realizing that he is helping to retrieve the photos. The story gets awfully convoluted from here and includes MI5, other government agencies, police departments, and local criminals; David Suchet plays one.

How will this all turn out? We will see as the story unfolds.

The acting was well done and the props were excellent for the period piece Set in London in the early 1970's. This may not have been an exceptional film but it will hold your attention to the end.
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Do not forget to take advantage of the extras on the Blu-ray version.

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3 stars out of 4

The Bottom Line:

Though its title makes it sound like a generic genre exercise in the tradition of The Italian Job(s), this thriller is actually far more grounded in realism and brutality than you would expect and makes for a surprisingly satisfying motion picture--unformulaic and possessed of a convincing 70s aesthetic, it's a must watch for those interesting in heists.

One of my favorites of the year; simple but well done

Old school heist movie, based on true events in 1971, where there was no cool gadgetry ala 'Oceans 11'. Just the old-fashioned way of digging a tunnel and blowing things up. Well directed, acted, and great pacing makes this a real pleasure to watch.

Heist Films Are Usually Entertaining, And This Is No Exception

Jason Statham is well on his way to becoming typecast. It seems like he's in a ton of these kind of action films lately, although this movie is a bit more subdued and complicated than some of them. At least in this heist flick, there are several twists and turns and you have to stay alert to follow who is exactly on the up-and-up and who isn't, and Statham isn't punching out 10 people at once.

This is another one of these modern-day films in which the crooks, the thieves, the bandits - whatever - are the "good guys" and the police and the government officials are the bad guys. This seems to be a big favorite of the anti-authority filmmakers world in the last 40 years whether it's in Hollywood or London.

Regardless, it's a very entertaining film and Statham and company are fun to watch. That's also nothing new as the tough "Transporter" star has become a regular at playing these kind of nice guy/macho/thug roles.

Actually, everyone is pretty much a creep in this film, just to varying degrees. They are all interesting, too, and several of the minor characters have a good sense of humor, too. Add some very tense robbery scenes, some sex early on, some double-crosses later and you have a very serious Keystone Cops type story where you're never quite sure what crazy thing is going to happen next.