Lionsgate Films | 2008 | 110 mins | Rated R | Jul 15, 2008
A small-time crook takes on a bank heist when an old friend offers him an inside track to the vault. Along with his hastily assembled team of low-rung criminals Terry (Statham) finds himself deep into this real-life heist and quite suddenly the target of ruthless mobsters the police government officials at the highest level and even the royal family.
A cheerful, energetic, and completely entertaining movie, The Bank Job follows some small-time hoods who think they’ve lucked into a big-time opportunity when they learn a bank’s security system will be temporarily suspended–little suspecting that they’re being manipulated by government agents for their own ends. The result is that the movie doubles its pleasures: While the robbery itself has the usual suspense of a heist film, when the robbery is over the hoods find themselves being hunted by the police, the government, and brutal criminal kingpins who were storing dangerous information in a safety deposit box.
The Bank Job won’t win any awards, but it’s enormously fun. Director Roger Donaldson (No Way Out, Species) propels the action along with vigor, editing zippily with perfect clarity among multiple storylines and various colorful characters. Jason Statham (Snatch, The Transporter), as the leader of the bank robbers, successfully steps away from his usual bone-crunching roles to a more human presence. The rest of the cast–including Saffron Burrows (Deep Blue Sea), Keeley Hawes (Tipping the Velvet), David Suchet (Poirot), and many faces familiar from British film and television–give their characters the right degree of personality and flavor without getting fussy or detracting from the headlong rush of the story. A little sex, a lot of action, a sly sense of humor, and a twisty plot; if more movies had these basic pleasures, the world would be a happier place.
Store & Price Comparison
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The Bank Job [Blu-ray] Available for Pre-order. Pre-order now! This title will be released on July 15, 2008. |
Price: $23.95 |
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Bank Job (Blu-ray) Available for Pre-order. Pre-Order Now! This title will be released on July 15, 2008. |
Price: $26.94 |
Product Details
Jason Statham, Saffron Burrows, Stephen Campbell Moore, Daniel Mays, James Faulkner
Roger Donaldson
AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Subtitled, Widescreen
English
English, Spanish
All Regions
2.35:1
2
Rated R
Lionsgate
July 15, 2008
110 minutes
10 Reviews Customer Reviews
Customer Reviews
A refreshing surprise…exciting and thoroughly entertaining!
By RMurray847 “afilmcritic.com”, (Albuquerque, NM United States) - March 17, 2008
THE BANK JOB is a bit of a throwback to a different kind of crime movie. In this day and age, most heist movies are super high-tech (THE ITALIAN JOB, any of the OCEAN’S movies) and usually an occasion for big name stars to do a little slumming. They may be lots of fun, but they are also sleek and modern. But THE BANK JOB takes place in 1970, and it is a gritty little period piece.
There’s no mistaking it for a film actually MADE in 1970. There’s too much graphic sex and nudity, the language is too harsh. Also, star Jason Statham’s hair isn’t what you’d see in the 70s. But it feels very specific to its time and is refreshingly low tech. Jackhammers, shovels, walkie-talkies. It’s in a time WAY before computers on every desk and cell phones in every pocket. No internet. No email. Just rotary dial telephones. A time before criminals worried about leaving DNA evidence behind.
It’s based on or inspired by the true story of the most lucrative bank robbery in British history (some 4 million pounds). The robbers dug a tunnel underneath a couple of shops and emerged beneath the vault of a branch of Lloyds bank. They opened all the safety deposit boxes and disappeared with a wide and sundry list of items. Apparently, many, many of the box owners declined to tell what items were stolen from them, so the filmmakers have created a rather elaborate scheme involving blackmail, homegrown terrorists, prostitution and miscellaneous indiscretions at the highest levels of government to “explain” why so many folks were too ashamed to admit what they kept stored in the vault. It’s a complex little plot, but it is neatly put together and actually fairly fun to follow.
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