THE BANK JOB (MA15+)

Director:
Roger Donaldson

Starring:
Jason Statham
Saffron Burrows

Plot Summary:
A car dealer with a dodgy past and new family, Terry has always avoided major-league scams. But when Martine, a beautiful model from his old neighborhood, offers him a lead on a foolproof bank hit on London's Baker Street, Terry recognizes the opportunity of a lifetime. Martine targets a roomful of safe deposit boxes worth millions in cash and jewelry. But Terry and his crew don't realize the boxes also contain a treasure trove of dirty secrets - secrets that will thrust them into a deadly web of corruption and illicit scandal that spans London's criminal underworld, the highest echelons of the British government, and the Royal Family itself...the true story of a heist gone wrong...in all the right ways.

Genre:
Action

Duration:
1 Hour 50 Minutes

Origin:
U.K.

Language:
English

Reviews:

Review by Margaret Pomeranz

For a few days in London in 1971 the press ran wild with news of the biggest bank heist in British history.

It was known as the walkie-talkie robbery because a ham radio operator listened in to and recorded communications between the robbers. A few days later as the result of a D-notice the press was gagged.

THE BANK JOB, which has been directed by Roger Donaldson, tells the story of what happened and why. JASON STATHAM stars as Terry, a used car salesman with seedy connections who’s approached by a former lover Martine, (SAFFRON BURROWS), to do the job.

Terry gathers together a gang of mates, petty crims, little knowing that it’s a scam organised by the secret service to gain access to a particular safety deposit box containing embarrassing photos of a member of the royal family.

They’re being used by a black power leader at the time, Michael X, PETER DE JERSEY), to avoid prosecution. Unfortunately other boxes contain even more embarrassing photos of peers and parliamentarians as well as the ledger of local porn king Lew Vogel, (DAVID SUCHET), listing his payments to bent cops.

This is such a good film, the best work that Roger Donaldson has done in years. It’s been deliciously written by the team of Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais who used the records of the walkie talkie conversations as well as having access to a ‘deep throat’.

Performances from the ensemble cast are tops, with Jason Statham more than capable of grounding the film at its core. I’m not a big fan of caper movies, I get bored by all the detail of the set-up and mind that characters usually get lost in the mix.

But in this case everything dovetails beautifully, the characters are really cleverly drawn, it’s funny at times, rather horrible at others, but, true or not, never less than constantly entertaining.

Further comments

DAVID: It is. I mean I like caper films and I certainly enjoyed this one and I think it's got quite a lot of surprises in it, if anybody remembers what happened back in 1971 and how suddenly it all went very, very quiet, and this idea that there were scurrilous photographs of a member of the royal family, which the film suggests very strongly who it is.

There's that wonderful moment when the character - the actor playing Lord Mountbatten comes and looks at the incriminating photographs and he has one word, which I won't say, but it's really funny. So this is a film which is suspenseful and amusing and one of its distinctions is that every minor character is really vividly drawn.

And further....

“The story is crystal clear, the plot development detailed, the characters integral to it all and the dramatic scenes - of which there are many - positively sizzle in the best British style," says
Andrew Urban. URBAN CINEFILE.

Trailer: