CinePhillyist Reviews... The Bank Job

I like Jason Statham. I think he's a really talented guy. But let's face it, besides Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, he hasn't been in very many decent movies. Just look at his filmography: Transporter 2, that Uwe Boll Dungeon Siege thing, The One. Ugh. For that reason, I went into my screening of The Bank Job with pretty low expectations.

And I came out pretty impressed. It's actually a really solid entry in the heist movie genre, with strong acting all around, and an exciting, suspenseful, engaging story full of twists and surprises. The Bank Job is actually based on a true story – a story with which I'm not familiar. I'd be really curious to know just how true it is to the actual facts of the case, but the plot is so complex, with so many characters and random incidents thrown in (although thankfully it never gets too confusing) that it certainly feels realistic (well, with the exception of the rather unlikely "happily ever after" ending).

It all starts with some compromising photographs taken of a British royal personage. A criminal and activist has got them locked away in a safety deposit box at a bank in London, and is using them as leverage to avoid prosecution. Some rather crooked members of MI5 decide the pictures have to be acquired by any means necessary, so they get in contact with former model and friend of "villains" Martine Love (Saffron Burrows), who then hires her old chum (the proverbial criminal with a heart of gold) Terry Leather (Statham) and some of his chums to help her rob the bank, pretending like it's just a job and telling them nothing of the photos. They put a team together and come up with a plan to dig a tunnel into the vault from a nearby empty storefront. Everything seems to be going to plan at first, but as must happen for all heists in movies, soon enough everything is spinning wildly out of control. It turns out that there was more than one hot set of photos in the safety deposit boxes, not to mention a certain ledger that will out a bunch of dirty cops, so now Terry and his gang have not only the regular police and MI5 after them, but also an assorted group of extremely dangerous scoundrels and rogues, and none of them are going to let up until they get their property back.

There's actually quite a bit more to the plot than that, but I'm not going to go into more details, one, because it would be really confusing, and two, so as not to spoil things. The point is, it's a clever thriller with plenty of intrigue that actually gets surprisingly dark, cruel, and violent at times. Some of the central characters get killed in what are very nearly throw-away scenes, and then never mentioned again, which I thought was rather harsh, and even a bit hard to believe. But hey, robbery is a harsh business. The only other hard-to-believe bit is that ending, which I already mentioned. But I like a happy ending well enough that I was willing to look the other way. All in all, it's a very cool little movie, and will certainly satisfy your jones for a good heist flick.

Image via CanMag.