The Bank Job
September 29th, 2009
Based on actual events in 1971, this thriller tells the story of a car dealer (Jason Statham) who becomes involved in a London bank heist, only to find that the contents of the bank vault will draw him deeply and irrevocably into the city’s criminal underbelly. Murder and scandal abound in this tale of corruption populated with a surprising mix of offenders, from low-level thugs to government officials — all the way up to the royal family.
Director Roger Donaldson (No Way Out, The World’s Fastest Indian) felt so strongly about this film that he started shooting it before it received the official green light from the studio. He was right! He turns out one of the most clever and satisfying crime thrillers in recent memory. So many films in the genre these days take one of two approaches: they either spoof the genre/make an homage (though In Bruges and Hot Fuzz were both good in their own right), or they have a condescending “smarter than thou” attitude with endless and increasingly tedious twists and turns. The Bank Job reminds us why we have crime-based thrillers to begin with – because the classics were such captivating, fulfilling movies. Jason Statham stars as a low-level, charismatic thug who is dragged into a bank vault robbery by ages-ago friend Saffron Burrows. They assemble a team to help them out, and they attempt the heist. Suddenly, a large, diverse cast of characters is after them, each with their own objectives. Donaldson masters the pacing and tone of the movie perfectly. The level of suspense is kept strong throughout, and that’s the driving force – not the comedy. There aren’t constant witty one-liners dropped every few minutes, and the movie doesn’t stray from its main course to get a belly laugh. The make-you-smile comedy in the movie is mostly due to plotline and is never distracting from the matter at hand. Definitely worth seeing!
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