The Bank Job

THE BANK JOB (15)

D: Roger Donaldson

Lionsgate/Mosaic/Relativity Media/Skyline (Charles Roven & Steven Chasman)

UK 🇬🇧 2008

112 mins

Crime/Thriller

W: Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais

DP: Michael Coulter

Ed: John Gilbert

Mus: J. Peter Robinson

Jason Statham (Terry Leather), Saffron Burrows (Martine Love), Richard Lintern (Tim Everett), Keeley Hawes (Wendy Leather), Stephen Campbell Moore (Kevin Swain)

The Bank Job is a pleasant surprise of a heist movie and was much better than I believed it had every right to be, mostly due to a strong script and competent performances.

Based on some true events, the crime unfolds in 1970's London. Terry Leather is a former criminal turned straight, but with his car dealership struggling, he is approached by old flame Martine Love, who has a foolproof plan to rob a Baker Street bank, all under the auspices of her doing some dirty work for the government to locate some scandalous photographs which a militant civil rights activist is using as blackmail material for maintaining his freedom as he goes about his criminal activities.

The heist itself is pretty much the same as other films of the ilk, but the aftermath is where it peels itself apart from similar movies.

Jason Statham does a good job in the lead role and Saffron Burrows makes a good femme fatale in the context of this plot. Keeley Hawes is also impressive in what amounts to be a very small role.

A very entertaining caper which could easily have been just another Italian Job wannabe.

6/10