The Bank Job Movie
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Storyline
TAGLINES
The true story of a heist gone wrong... in all the right ways.
Based on the true story of the 1971 Baker Street bank robbery which was prevented from being told for over thirty years because of a Government gagging order. The real story of how one of the biggest robberies in British history took place with no arrests ever made nor money ever recovered.
| Jason Statham | Terry |
| Saffron Burrows | Martine |
| Stephen Campbell Moore | Kevin |
| Daniel Mays | Dave |
| James Faulkner | Guy Singer |
| Alki David | Bambas |
| Michael Jibson | Eddie |
| Richard Lintern | Tim Everett |
| Don Gallagher | Gerald Pyke |
| David Suchet | Lew Vogel |
| Peter Bowles | Miles Urquhart |
| Andrew Brooke | Quinn |
| Trevor Byfield | Jack Jessell |
| Peter De Jersey | Michael X |
| Rufus Dean | Young Cop |
| Roger Donaldson |
7.70 out of 10 (13759 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Don't waste your time
posted on 16 Aug 2009What truly worthwhile aspects can be taken from a film like The Bank Job? Well, 'Mutton Dagger' for a start. Including that is nothing short of immature genius. Lots and lots of breasts is another. Expert alliteration using the world renowned C word is also significant. Aside from that though, there isn't much, leaving The Bank Job a vacuous and unpleasant experience. Anybody expecting another Lock, Stock or Snatch (as the marketing suggests) will be severely disappointed. Sure, director Roger Donaldson attempts to weave an intricate tapestry of lies, double crosses, witty dialogue and interrelated characters who all conveniently find themselves present at the less than satisfying climax, but he utterly fails. So many poorly executed sub-plots and underdeveloped characters are crammed into the running time that there isn't actually any room for anything else. Like interest. Or continuity. Or drama.The tepid story is based on an actual 1970s bank robbery which took place in London by a team of small time criminals. Amongst the safety deposit boxes in the bank's vault are a number of photographs depicting a member of the royal family in various promiscuous positions and a ledger containing the names of all the corrupt police officers in the city. Various interest groups do not want these items to fall in the wrong hands and so, with little imagination, try to retrieve them from the group of robbers. That's it. That's the whole story. It's VERY difficult to guess the outcome, like whether the cheeky criminals lead by wide boy Jason Statham will get away with it and live happily ever after or if the compromising ledger will fall into the hands of the only honest policeman in Scotland Yard, but I believe anybody not in a persistent vegetative state could probably work it out. A little more problematic though, is how everything actually all works out. The screenwriters noticed this during filming and helpfully included a couple of lines of dialogue in order to resolve any ambiguity which, to paraphrase, went like this: Bank robber: "How did we get away with not getting arrested by the police for stealing millions of pounds, when they CLEARLY knew it was us, even if we did give them the ledger?" Jason Statham: "I don't know." Excellent. No perplexity here. There is also a side story involving Black civil rights revolutionary Michael X which seems like it was shoehorned into the film during post production when somebody suddenly realised that the entire cast was white. It is difficult to recall anything about the cast, which consists mostly of cardboard cut-outs with voice-overs. There were policemen, whom you could tell were policemen because they arrived in twos, stood with their hands in the pockets of their flowing black coats and spoke as though they were doing somebody a favour every time they opened their mouths. The antagonists were easy to discern because they looked menacing and used four word sentences which were almost always dripping with malice/stupidity. Finally the good guys were the ones standing around Jason Statham whenever he was in a scene, unless it was a scene in which he was being menaced by the bad guys. It took really solid acting all round to convey this. It would have been mightily confusing otherwise.See this film either if you don't like money and like to rid yourself of it in the most boring ways you can think of or if you find it amusing to observe Jason Statham struggling through yet another miscast role: JS: Do I need to look angry or confused here? Director: Well, she's your daughter and you're giving her a present. JS: So...angry then? D: No, I'm kind of looking for loving and happy. JS (pulling a face): You mean like this? D: Well...that's more like confusion, don't you think? JS: I...can't tell.
It's good
posted on 14 Aug 2009"The Bank Job" is based upon a true story of a 70's bank heist that was built around recovering some photos of a royal family member in a compromising position from a safety deposit box.Martine (Saffron Burrows) learns of a bank which has some issues with it's alarm system and consequently has them disarmed while the problem is being resolved. She tells an old scheming friend of hers, Terry (Jason Statham), about this golden opportunity and before long he has gathered a team who can get into the bank and make a raid. Little does he know that he's being set-up purely so Martine can get the invaluable photos and consequently be released from a drugs charge from the Government. The Government is being blackmailed because of the photos and wants to get them back so they can destroy them. A simple job soon becomes extremely complicated and dangerous. Will Terry get busted? Will the royal family be shamed? Will Martine walk free? See it to find out.A well put together movie, with plenty of twists and turns. I'd picked it out for a DVD night with the in-laws and was a little worried about the content of the first 15mins but it soon improved and everyone thought it was a winner. One of the better done-to-death bank robbery movies you'll see.
Well crafted film full of humor and story
posted on 14 Aug 2009The Bank Job is a well done British film. It stars Jason Statham as the star role. The film is based on a true story regarding a gagged (As kept hushed from the public ears) bank heist in London. Main concern a rag tag group of people attempting to rob the safe deposit box of a bank to obtain some loot.Being a rag tag team group of people, it certainly makes for a quirky humorous group. The dialog seems very natural and fits the mood of average job Londoners. Mainly the character Dave serves as comic relief for majority of the film.The film does a good job at keeping the humor and drama steady and makes fluid transitions between the two. Both the funny parts and serious parts feels natural to the plot and is well done. The heist scene is very well done. It keeps the tension high but at the same time assiduously injecting wee bits of humor.One problem with the movie is how some of the subplots are confusing regarding how it relates to the main plot. Despite how the film explains and tie off most of it at the end, the first 1/3 of the film can have a lot of raise many questions that aren't quite explained until around the end.The ending is respectable and is very well done. A second climax end it off in a bang and then slowly finishes off the film. Again the film provides intensity/humor and story/drama to the very end which was very well done since it will keep you from getting bored.Overall, Jason Statham fans and those are like British humor and a film that incorporate a good balance of story and action/humor should enjoy this film. It is easily the most enjoyable film I've seen this year and I am looking forward to more films from Jason Statham in the future.
Better than your average caper film
posted on 27 Jul 2009Based on true events, this is a tightly plotted and paced movie that starts off feeling like a caper film, then ends up as something else. The story is about a gang of second rate crooks who become patsies for a government operation, hired to break into a bank that holds some incriminating photos of some people in Parliament. They tunnel under the vault, break in and spend the night ransacking its contents, only to be overheard by a ham radio operator who calls the police…who at first don't even believe him. It is the incompetence of the thieves and then the surprising outcome of the heist that set this apart from other such films, giving the events a weight that would otherwise not be possible. Jason Statham does his thing, kicking ass when he has to. This is a very enjoyable film.
Worst Film of the Year So Far!
posted on 25 Jul 2009I saw this film at a free preview a few weeks before its official release. I was really looking forward to it having seen the trailer and was very disappointed by the quality of it.I don't mind British gangster films when done well. Layer Cake for instance was excellent and Snatch was alright but this seemed very poorly acted and the dialogue was laughable.I would particularly single out Saffron Burrow's acting as astoundingly poor. She was more wooden than a log cabin. Her character was supposed to trick the other characters into doing something and I found it surprising that they would believe her as it was so obvious that she was supposed to be lying. They would have had to be both blind and deaf for it to be believable that she could deceive them.Jason Statham did what he always does which I didn't mind in Crank as it was somewhat amusing but here I just found him very irritating. His character seemed a bit misogynistic and he was clearly supposed to be a 'loveable rogue' but I definitely disliked him.It did get slightly better in the second half to be fair but it was an extremely noisy and annoying film. It was also rather dull during the initial stages and I kept nearly falling asleep only to be woken a few seconds later by the noise.The main problem with this film is that none of the characters are at all likable. I really wanted them to get caught by the police! Not all characters have to be likable (eg There Will Be Blood didn't have any likable characters) but when you are supposed to be on someone's side and you just want them to fail then it's clearly not working.
You know what scares me more? Living and dying with nothing to show for it.
posted on 21 Jul 2009There is no getting around the fact that I am a big Jason Statham fan. I don't care what he is in, I have to see it.He is magnificent as a gang leader out of his element in doing a bank job. What he doesn't know is that the person who set it up (Saffron Burrows) is in league with MI5 or 6, or some other spook operation looking for photos of a Royal in the box of one Michael X (Peter De Jersey).The gang pulls off the robbery and uncover photos of MPs in some very delicate positions. Now, the spooks and some big time criminals are after them. Things are going to get ugly.But Statham plays all the interests against each other in a plan that took more work than the robbery.Bloody good show.
Communication Breakdown
posted on 13 Jul 2009The cover of the DVD said, "Everything action fans could want!" "Great!" I thought. "Just what I'm in the mood for. An action movie called 'The Bank Job' starring Jason Statham." But as the film wore on, I became increasingly perplexed. There was no action. Just long sequences of guys drilling through concrete and making dumb mistakes intercut with many, many scenes of naked writhing bodies. Naked bodies in water, naked bodies in brothels, naked bodies in films within the film...and then I realized my error -- I was thinking "action" as in, "Blam! Blam! Crash! BOOM!" And they were saying "action" as in "Wakka-Chikka, Wakka-Chikka." Aha! That explains why in this entire movie, I saw 2 Smith and Wessons and (apologies to Steve Martin) 57 tits."Action" fans (nudge-nudge, wink-wink, say no more)will love this movie. The rest of us will be disappointed and bored. Statham and David Suchet do good work in it, so 4 stars.
Well made and exciting modern crime caper
posted on 05 Jul 2009I wasn't in a rush to see this film in spite of the fact that I love crime capers; and that's because I had it figured for yet another Pulp Fiction-style modern crime film. After the first ten minutes, I feared that my fears had been confirmed; but as the film moves on, it grows into itself and turns into one of the most exciting and entertaining crime thrillers of this decade. The film takes place in the seventies and focuses on a real bank robbery (although I suspect that certain elements of it were made up). What's interesting is the way it ties in to actual history and features several real people in the plot line. The plot focuses on an indebted garage owner named Terry. He is told by a former girlfriend that one of the local banks is having a new alarm fitted and will be off over the weekend, and comes up with a plan to rob the place. What Terry and his chum's don't know is that a secret government agency is behind the whole thing; and want the motley crew to rob the bank in order to retrieve some photographs that are being used by a Trinidadian to blackmail the UK government.The film stars Jason Statham, who is absolutely perfect for his role. The actor obviously gets type-cast all the time; but when he plays this sort of role so well, who could possibly complain? The plot moves very quickly and there's plenty of snappy dialogue; some of which I doubt existed in the seventies; but it still works well. The bank job obviously takes centre stage, and it's a rather daring robbery in the way it's played out. The film is more than that, however, and just as important as the actual robbery itself is the implications of it. The repercussions for the Government, the criminal underworld and various other parties provide plenty of interest once the robbery has been and gone. Contrary to other modern crime films, this one does not put its focus on violence either. There is a little bit, but it never goes over the top and it's always the story that takes the main focus. The film boils down to an exciting and suitable conclusion that ensures that everything ends on a high. Overall, this is certainly one of the best crime films in years and comes highly recommended!
Improbable Reality
posted on 03 Jul 2009If "The Bank Job" were fiction, it would be a fairly decent robbery caper. As it is, "The Bank Job," a veritable documentary and realistic whodunit, is awesome. Unlike most films, this one requires a couple of advance tips: First, watch it with the improbable idea in mind that most of it is actual, hard-to-believe truth; second, don't be impatient. As the story of a 1971 bank robbery begins, the setting in London, the parade of seemingly unconnected stories and characters is rather confusing, complex, disjointed. But stay with it - there is a crescendo of excitement and excellence. The true elements of "The Bank Job," some hidden until recently by Britain's "D Notice" censorship law (modified in 1993, becoming DA, or Defense Advisory) are these:1. A big bank robbery did take place on Baker Street in 1971, culprits never found, money never recovered. After initial big headlines, the story disappeared from the newspapers. 2. There was serious police corruption in London in the 1970s, cops on payrolls of drug dealers and pornographers.3. Princess Margaret was involved in a series of affairs, some caught on compromising photos which were not published by the otherwise relentlessly sensational British press, under the D-Notice rule. 4. There was a militant British black-power advocate, called Michael X, involved in a one-man, multi-country crime wave. (In 1971, John Lennon paid for Michael X's bail, something not mentioned in the film.)"The Bank Job" director Roger Donaldson (of "No Way Out") brings together all these true threads in a way that may be true even in its totality, director and cast prevailing over some shoddy work from too many writers. The content is all true, the context is excitingly possible. Did the government, in trying to prevent exposure of Princess Margaret by evidence in Michael X's possession, mastermind the bank robbery? Was MI-5 or MI-6 (says a policeman in the film: "I never remember which is which") involved, and actually assisting the robbers? Again, possibly. The cast is remarkable: Jason Statham is the ringleader, the bad guy of "Transporter" and "The Italian Job" turning into a scourge of the really bad guys. Saffron Burrows, James Spader's vamp nemesis on "Boston Legal," brings her remarkable name and looks to the criminally and emotionally ambiguous major female role.Peter De Jersey is a totally scary Michael X; David ("Poirot") Suchet is a frightening crime lord; and a whole host of top British stage actors fill in big roles and small ones. Don't be misled by reviews speaking of a so-so thriller - "The Bank Job" is a great deal more than that, even to the point that you may want to see it more than once.
Modestly Enjoyable Cockney Crime Caper
posted on 29 Jun 2009It's always good to see my home town, London, portrayed on the screen here in the Golden State, and the last two weekends have brought me The Bank Job and then Run, Fat Boy Run, both of which I enjoyed on a fairly superficial level. The Bank Job had me at hello, when it opened with T Rex's Get it On (Bang a Gong), and I was 16 again and in love with the now sadly demised Marc Bolan. To get the most out of The Bank Job you have to be able to cast your mind back to the early 1970s, the clothes and fashions, the social and racial attitudes. But tougher, you also have to be able to remember a time when anyone gave a toss about the Royal Family and what they got up to in their spare time. Because this movie revolves around an attempt to blackmail the British Establishment about the misbehaviour of a princess, and this was long, long before The Duchess of York was photographed having her toes sucked beside a hotel swimming pool, or Prince Charles was overheard discussing Tampax on his cell phone. And apparently it's basically a true story. Wonderful! The bank Job was written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, two stalwarts of British TV and movies whose credit list on IMDb runs to about 10Gb (The Likely Lads, Porridge, Lovejoy, Going Straight etc all the way back to Not Only But Also……but now I'm showing my age.) The script is fairly tight as you might expect from two such experienced writers. Caught smuggling dope into the UK and compromised, Martine Love (ex model Saffron Burrows) who knows a few small time crooks and wide-boys, is asked to entice a group of them into a plot to rob the safety deposit boxes at a bank. What she knows but they don't, is that one of the boxes contains embarrassing photos of a prominent royal of the time, photos which the security services want back. The job of Martine's buddies is to get into the vault. They think they are simply there to steal jewels and cash. Her job is to retrieve the photos of the royal. But add to the mix a vicious, local hard nut club owner who is bribing police and keeping a tally of it in a ledger book in the vault, a radical West Indian activist who took the photos that caused the problem, and the Madam of the local brothel, a destination much frequented by the excellent upright MPs who ruled us back then, (but not now, right……?) and things get complicated and out of control quickly. Most of all, everything has to be kept quiet, so that the public won't find out and the status quo will be maintained. Jason Statham is pretty good as the gang leader, Richard Lintern is suitably smarmy as the MI5 agent, and the movie is peppered with familiar faces from British TV and film. I'm not convinced that Saffron Burrows is a great actress however and she was a little weak to be the female lead. I found her unconvincing. This is not a truly great or ground breaking film, but it was gripping enough to be entertaining, and knowing that the guts of the story if not all the actual detail, is basically true, adds the spice of making it interesting historically too. I wonder if such a cover-up could happen today? But mostly I just wonder what a royal princess could do nowadays that would make us do anything other than yawn?
The Best Heist Movie In Years
posted on 25 Jun 2009I expected this movie to be somewhat entertaining, and maybe a bit cheesy. After all, it's not difficult to muck up a heist movie. However, this film gets it all right. The acting is top notch, the story is not only engaging and clever but TRUE (!), and the experience of seeing it is thoroughly enjoyable.The only complaints I have of the film are that the characters do get a little cheeky from time to time (but hey, they're British, so it's kind of expected), and there's a couple flashbacks/lapses in time that are initially confusing - although everything is clearly laid out about halfway through. Want to see a good movie? Check this one out!
Fresh heist story that happens to be partly true
posted on 23 Jun 2009"The Bank Job" is fun, so much fun that you kinda have to stare awkwardly at its "based on a true story" tagline. Did a bank robbery where the press was blacked out really happen? Was it really set up as a government operation to retrieve critical blackmail photos of Princess Margaret? Speculation aside, "The Bank Job" hardly needs its truth disclaimer. It's a good story taking a different angle on the overdone British heist thriller. Its place in history only makes it the more unique.First of all, don't be worried of about this being just another Jason Statham movie. The Transporter and Crank series star has finally piloted something genuinely creative here. For one thing, the film takes place in the '70s. With that comes a whole different look to the heist movie and no fancy technology either.The story has Statham's character Terry and his band of amateur criminals being offered a unique bank robbery opportunity by an old friend, Martine (Saffron Burrows). What they don't know, is that Martine is doing this to clear her own record and has set them up to a do a job for the government: retrieve incriminating photos of Princess Margaret in the possession of Black Panther Michael X, who's using them to keep himself out of jail. The photos are in a safety deposit box in the bank in question.Half the film is the heist itself, then the second half its aftermath as the thieves find themselves being hunted by law enforcement, the government who put them there in the first place and the immoral men in power who want the photos back. We actually end up pitying Statham and his men because they had no idea what they were getting into."Bank Job" works very quickly to get the heist going and it's sort of choppy film-making for a good thirty minutes. After the characters and what's really going on with the government and all settles in, the movie takes off. Its non-traditional heist premise simply requires a good deal of set-up time. The characters are a little shallow, but they have clear goals and clear things at stake. Their amateur technique comes through and wins our sympathies despite their ignorance of radio technology and how they pop champagne bottles found in the deposit boxes before they've even left the bank.It's safe to say "Bank Job" is one of the better heist flicks made in awhile, with so many tired and repetitive stories being told. British TV writers Dick Clement and Ian La Franais deserve a lot of credit for finding this story, sealing the rights and bringing it to life in an entertaining and creative way, regardless how much is actually true.~Steven C. Visit my site at http://moviemusereviews.blogspot.com
Solidly Entertaining and Atypical Heist Film
posted on 21 Jun 2009This slick, no-nonsense thriller had me on the edge of my seat.The film is based on a true story, but take that for whatever it's worth. I don't know anything about the bank robbery portrayed in this film, so can't answer for its accuracy. But it's one hell of an entertaining movie.If you're going into it because you enjoy heist films, be warned: little attention is payed to the actual mechanics of this bank robbery. Instead, the film is much more about the people (police, thugs and MI5 alike) who become invested in seeing the bank robbers caught when it becomes known that the robbers targeted safety deposit boxes, and by extension the private information contained in them that could make or break the lives of many.Jason Statham heads up the cast of not especially well-known British actors, and aside from a rather out-of-place fight scene towards the film's climax, is asked to keep his action hero persona under wraps.Grade: A
Excellent caper flick - well worth watching
posted on 19 Jun 2009Small-time London thief Terry Leather (Jason Statham) gets the tip of a lifetime from long-time friend and local East End hottie Martine Love (Saffron Burrows) and forms a plan to rob a bank by tunnelling under the street.While offering nothing new or nothing that couldn't be done better (more money for convincing period street scenes, for example) this is two hours of solid entertainment if you like your movies with your brain on or off. Well selected cast and being based on a true (and multifaceted) story moves the thing from a B movie right up to being a bargain bin keeper.In contrast to the average American movie the criminals are not smart, slick or even totally in control. They make plenty of mistakes and do stupid things. This provides puzzle number one: Getting in to a bank is not a game for amateurs and it is hard to fathom why small-timers would try and do a big time job? I am old Enough to remember London in 1971 and while the camera never pans and scans they don't make many glaring mistakes (the goofs section is nit-picking - London was dirtier at the time though). The setting, the hair and the fashions are not too far off.File under enjoyable-but-not-essential.
GREAT Movie
posted on 17 Jun 2009I LOVED this movie, don't listen to all those other "wankers" who think that the plot is a little thin, the driving factor behind this for me was that this was a true story so its not in the director's prerogative to convince you that it could happen, its just for the viewers simple interest to understand that it DID. Other from that the plot is unbelievable and will grapple you from the beginning to the end. The acting by the actors is amazing even for most of the new cast members who I had never heard of. Now I agree that perhaps the movie could have employed a more encompassing selection of 70's style music however I did not even think of that until reading the previous comment and honestly it doesn't even mater when watching the film because you will be so absorbed in the plot that it really doesn't matter. End of story, GIVE MONEY TO THE CAST AND WATCH THIS MOVIE. Period.
Solid if unoriginal!
posted on 15 Jun 2009British and crime thriller goes together as well as Brighton seafront and slightly ropey seafood. And ropey would be a good word to describe the recent Brit crime films – Revolver, Played and many other crimes against a once great genre that spawned Get Carter & Snatch. So when journeyman director-for-hire Roger Donaldson, he of Species and Dante's Peak fame, teamed up Jason Statham (one of the hardest working Brits out there at the moment) as much as I knew I'd watch the film my hopes weren't exactly high. It's a relief then that, for the most part, we get a solid three star movie that does very much what it says on the tin. Offered a job to rob what seems like an easy to hit bank, Terry (Statham) and his crew of petty crooks get embroiled in a deadly plot to cover up a scandal that could rock the foundation of the British monarchy bringing them face to face with spooks, bent coppers and crooks… with lethal consequences. Apparently based on the true story of the 'Walkie Talkie bank robbers', Donaldson's film ticks most of the boxes you expect from a modern day British crime thriller, not least the inclusion of Jason Statham who makes his fourth appearance in a genre (Lock, Stock, Snatch, Revolver) that he is becoming somewhat of a mainstay of/typecast in (delete as appropriate). Sweary, violent and with a swerve ending its very much film-making by numbers here. But then again Donaldson has never been a director who stamps his originality on proceedings. This is especially clear when judging the confusing first thirty minutes of the film where you never quite sure who is who or even who is screwing who. A better director might have made this sparkly and fun, but in Donaldson's hands it's just plodding and dull. However the later hour of the films running time is where it starts to come together and with the bank job well underway the film's characters, story and motivations seem to gel much better. It's here the film finally lives up to it's snappy trailer… It's fair to say that this is a film that belongs to its lead and even though Jason Statham is very much playing the Jason Statham we know and love that isn't such a bad thing – his charisma and charm light up the screen yet again, lifting the not so great moments. It's fair to say that without him would probably have been a much duller film. As for the other cast, David Sucher is the best of the rest as porn baron Lew Vogal and Craig Fairbrass turns in another one of his familiar hard as nails performances but Keeley Hawes is wasted as Terry's wife and Saffron Burrows delivers yet another performance phoned in from the comfort of her own home. Whilst never reaching the heights of films like Get Carter, Snatch or a multitude of other Brit gangster/crime films that come before it, there's a lot to enjoy in The Bank Job and if you can get past the first, uncomfortably weak half an hour there's a good movie ready to entertain you. Just don't expect anything overly original.If you liked this try: Snatch, Oceans 11
Weird but good
posted on 15 Jun 2009"Based" on a true story. I use the quotes as I'm not sure how thoroughly it's actually based on aforementioned true story. Statham plays Terry, (a small time villain who owns a car showroom) well enough, the girl playing Martine I think was 2nd choice for the role (I have the feeling Lena Heady turned it down) and needs to learn how to pronounce Marylebone correctly too.A mistake no Londoner would make. As their doing this job for MI5 (did MI6 even exist back then, they'd be an awfully new as a department wouldn't they?) off the record it's basically a black bag job.With bent coppers on the payroll, and brothel madams photographing high flying clients in case they need to do a bit of blackmail just about everyone is on the take in this film. Set in the 1970's they've researched well, hair & clothes are very accurate.For those curious when their planning the job? Yes, Glentworth Street did & still does run parallel to Baker Street. The debt that Terry (Statham) owes must be huge as the thugs took a brand new E-Type Jaguar (easily worth two grand even then!).It's a nice twisty plot with MI5 bosses asking a junior man to ask a girl he helped out of some drug problems to ask her slightly criminal friends to rob a vault. Simple really.Everything doesn't go to plan (they fall into a plague vault, they get overheard by a ham radio guy who phones the police) and Martine gets caught removing the contents of box 118 that MI5 wanted her to steal and it turns out its pictures of Princess Margaret having sex which is why MI5 wanted the job done in the 1st place, the robbery was just a cover for it to prevent a Royal scandal and blackmail by a group of Black Power supporters.The tension between Terry & Martine is picked up by the remainder of the gang and she has to explain herself when he reveals the photos. It turns out the photos were taken by a drug lord who runs the black power group (and is under surveillance by a female MI5 agent) but the gang also have a book containing all the payments made by a London Porn Baron (David Suchet) to bent coppers.Eventually Terry sets up meetings to get new passports and promises of immunity with Lord Mountbatten but there are scuffles and Terry & co get arrested but MI5 explain the situation and they get let free.Terry and his family leave England. There's also a brief explanation about the "real" robbery although details are sketchy and unlikely to be released until 2054.The film is OK as a robbery movie and stands up well, the subplots of corruption and who trusts who are very twisty indeed. It's well worth a look.
I'll Throw a Brick at You!
posted on 11 Jun 2009Sold to the American public as another D-level action pic staring Jason Statham, "The Bank Job" is actually a crafty British heist flick based on an incredible true story. The screenwriters deserve credit for creating a serviceable script with so many intertwining stories based on little actual evidence, conjecture, here-say, and conspiracy theories revolving around royal and political sex scandals, militant Caribbean drug lords, undercover MI5 agents, bumbling crooks, crooked cops, and double-crosses and cover-ups. It could've easily been a confusing mess, but providing the viewer pays attention, "The Bank Job" gets the job done as crackerjack entertainment.Though aptly directed by veteran Roger Donaldson, the film does suffer from an overly salacious opening ten minutes designed to grab the audience's attention, some shoddy editing, and an intrusively bad action-style music score. There's also an attention to 1970's period detail in the dialogue and clothes that comes across as caricature and adds an accidentally humorous undertone to the otherwise cold-as-ice affair. However, the details of the "truth is stranger than fiction" tale and the fun had by the ensemble cast make for a breezy way to spend a few hours.Donaldson also has an eye for the ladies. Led by a smashingly gorgeous Saffron Burrows (looking like a European version of Michelle Pfeiffer circa 1992), the powerful women depicted in "The Bank Job" are far more than just eye candy. Statham is also fairly good as the head of the bank robbing crew, and when he finally throws a brick at a guy near the end of the film, it will put a smile on any action fan's face.Things get tidied up a bit too nicely in the end, where it seems only the really villainous characters have to face justice, but before the credits role, there are a series of real-life epilogued details plastered on the screen that make the viewer realize maybe this all really did happen. Now that's a jolly good show.
Above Average Caper Flick
posted on 07 Jun 2009As caper flicks go, all I really hope for is something that succeeds in being both novel and entertaining. My hopes were satisfied by The Bank Job. The plot itself is based very loosely on events that occurred in the 1970s in London. The royal family has some dark secrets. An outspoken activist/petty criminal/drug importer has evidence of these secrets, which he uses as leverage against the government who desperately wants to prosecute him. This evidence is stored in a safety deposit box within a London bank. British Intelligence conjures up a rather reckless plan of employing a bunch of two-bit/amateur criminals to break into the vault, and take the evidence along with whatever else they can carry out. Apart from one intermediary, none of the robbers know the government's secret agenda. Of course, things get complicated whenever the possibility that a bunch of dirty secrets are in the wrong hands, and eventually the movie juggles several interconnecting plot lines, all related to the contents of the vault and their implication on various interests from the royal family, to corrupt police, to the sexual indiscretions of parliament members.The movie keeps a good pace and never takes itself too seriously. It builds up the plot lines and tries somewhat successfully to tie everything together. There is some good tension, a bit of violence (not much), and eventually, vindication for most of the parties.The problems with the movie are numerous, but nothing that ultimately destroys the fun. Yes the movie is rife with inexplicably, unnecessary side characters (see female undercover agent in the Caribbean). Yes the movie's dialogue veers into indecipherable 1970s British slang, which gives a comedic undertone to conversations that are intended to be serious. Yes there exist rampant plot issues that make you wonder how stupid cops really are. And yes the acting is OK, at best, lets face it Jason Stracham is meant for British caper movies the way Keanu Reeves is meant to play a clueless surfer cop in Point Break - so while he's not winning any Academies, he fits these rolls just fine.You could wait for the DVD, or if you are looking for a fun way to kill 2 hours, you should go to the theater for this one.
Excellent
posted on 24 Aug 2009I'm old enough to remember this robbery well, and the film does a great credit to a very true story, Jason Statham is Terry a very small time hood with a car lot (like Arthur Daly) who get lured into this bank Job by one time girl friend Martine (Safron Burrows-who l saw in Enigma) she is very beautiful, along with some mates they do the robbery, masterminded by Peter Bowels, a long way from his smooth Richard De Vere days in To The Manor Born, mind you he's still smoothie in this film, also along for the ride is David Suchet as a London Porn King, and Georgia Taylor one of the Battersby girls from Coronation Street. The film moves at a hell of a pace, and slowly builds to a great climax, l don't want to give away any of the plot all l can say is go and see this film, l admit l went to a pre-release night, but l might even go and see it again it's that good, l give it 9 out of 10