The Bank Job Review
by Homer Yen (homer_yen AT yahoo DOT com)March 11th, 2008
"The Bank Job" - Moderate Interest
by Homer Yen
(c) 2008
The experience of watching the heist-flick "The
Bank Job" is like the experience you feel when
going on a slow roller coaster. A lot should be
happening, but the thrills are tempered. The
energy that's inherent in this film never really
manages to manifest itself.
The story is based on the true events of a daring
bank robbery that took place back in 1971. The
target was the vault of a Lloyds of London Bank,
and the infiltrators made off with loot worth (in
today's dollars) 5 million pounds. Nobody was
ever arrested and none of the money was
recovered. For three days after the event,
newspapers vigorously reported on the story with
more gusto than Brittany Spears's nervous
breakdowns. However, on the 4th day, all
coverage in all the newspapers ceased. Why was
there a clamp down on the media outlets? Was
there a conspiracy afoot?
The film attempts to offer its own explanation by
using an informer's revelation on that unsolved
crime. And, there are lots of juicy elements
here that do make for a fun film. It stars Jason
Statham as an endearing dad who always seems to
have a hand in a bit of skullduggery. He thinks
that he may have found an opportunity to start
anew when a former love interest (Saffron
Burrows) re-enters his life and tells him that
the security system of a local bank has been
temporarily turned off.
He assembles his crew to pull off the improbable
caper. And, we are reminded of similar films
like "Ocean's 11". The vault that they enter and
the safe deposit boxes that they raid attract the
attention and the ire of more than just the inept
police force. Now in the mix are spies that work
for the MI:6, a local crime lord, corrupt cops,
and even a black extremist. With all of that,
you'd hope that the film was more kinetic.
Oddly, what transpires on screen doesn't seem
nearly as interesting as what it took to make the
film happen. Reading a recent article on a
British online newsite (www.guardian.co.uk), I
learned that "the story will incriminate
high-ranking police officers, the secret service,
politicians and a prominent member of the royal
family." After the robbery, a government gagging
order, or D Notice, was imposed to prevent
further coverage. There was actually a chance to
catch the robbers as a ham radio operator
intercepted transmissions between the lookout and
the leader who was about to penetrate the vault.
When the radio operator called the local police
to report the crime, they dismissed him as a
prankster and just advised him to tape record the
conversation. The conversation, which was
transcribed and broadcast on national radio at
the time, furnished authentic dialogue for the
screenplay.
However wasteful all of the cool film elements
are, the film is still a serviceable yarn. Jason
Statham, who seems just right for these roles,
gets to act more and fight less. The dialogue is
colorful, the level of pulp violence is fun, and
there is that lingering aura of suspense as you
hope that these robbers get away with it. It's
just a shame that the story wasn't more memorably
told.
Grade: B-
S: 1 out of 3
L: 3 out of 3
V: 2 out of 3
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Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
