The Bank Job
starring: Jason Statham
Amazon.com:
A cheerful, energetic, and completely entertaining movie, The Bank Job follows some small-time hoods who think they've lucked into a big-time opportunity when they learn a bank's security system will be temporarily suspended--little suspecting that they're being manipulated by government agents for their own ends. The result is that the movie doubles its pleasures: While the robbery itself has the usual suspense of a heist film, when the robbery is over the hoods find themselves being hunted by the police, the government, and brutal criminal kingpins who were storing dangerous information in a safety deposit box. The Bank Job won't win any awards, but it's enormously fun. Director Roger Donaldson (No Way Out, Species) propels the action along with vigor, editing zippily with perfect clarity among multiple storylines and various colorful characters. Jason Statham (Snatch, The Transporter), as the leader of the bank robbers, successfully steps away from his usual bone-crunching roles to a more human presence. The rest of the cast--including Saffron Burrows (Deep Blue Sea), Keeley Hawes (Tipping the Velvet), David Suchet (Poirot), and many faces familiar from British film and television--give their characters the right degree of personality and flavor without getting fussy or detracting from the headlong rush of the story. A little sex, a lot of action, a sly sense of humor, and a twisty plot; if more movies had these basic pleasures, the world would be a happier place. --Bret Fetzer
A cheerful, energetic, and completely entertaining movie, The Bank Job follows some small-time hoods who think they've lucked into a big-time opportunity when they learn a bank's security system will be temporarily suspended--little suspecting that they're being manipulated by government agents for their own ends. The result is that the movie doubles its pleasures: While the robbery itself has the usual suspense of a heist film, when the robbery is over the hoods find themselves being hunted by the police, the government, and brutal criminal kingpins who were storing dangerous information in a safety deposit box. The Bank Job won't win any awards, but it's enormously fun. Director Roger Donaldson (No Way Out, Species) propels the action along with vigor, editing zippily with perfect clarity among multiple storylines and various colorful characters. Jason Statham (Snatch, The Transporter), as the leader of the bank robbers, successfully steps away from his usual bone-crunching roles to a more human presence. The rest of the cast--including Saffron Burrows (Deep Blue Sea), Keeley Hawes (Tipping the Velvet), David Suchet (Poirot), and many faces familiar from British film and television--give their characters the right degree of personality and flavor without getting fussy or detracting from the headlong rush of the story. A little sex, a lot of action, a sly sense of humor, and a twisty plot; if more movies had these basic pleasures, the world would be a happier place. --Bret Fetzer
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- "There can be no connection to 5 or 6."
And that's where it gets interesting.
The Baker Street Gang hatches a plot to steal certain photographs of one of the Royal Princess' from a local bank being hoarded by drug kingpin and blackmailer. A crew of opportunist wannabe's is assembled, a crude plan is formed, then bang....off go the jackhammers. First half of the movie drags, and is very short on professionalism. Both the cops and robbers are exposed as pretty much being out of their element. Jason Statham doesn't do much to ... Read More
Rating: - The names of many of the people identified in this film have been changed to protect the guilty
Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais wrote the film "The Bank Job" is supposedly based on the true story. This can possibly explain the complexity of the film. The film is more of a documentary than a shootemup or car chase film. At first, it looks very formula. Later you get interested in how it comes out.
Seems like somebody high up any the government or the royal family made a faux pas. This ended up on some glossies that allowed a high-profile criminal to escape prosecution. These photos ... Read More
Rating: - 3 stars out of 4
The Bottom Line:
Though its title makes it sound like a generic genre exercise in the tradition of The Italian Job(s), this thriller is actually far more grounded in realism and brutality than you would expect and makes for a surprisingly satisfying motion picture--unformulaic and possessed of a convincing 70s aesthetic, it's a must watch for those interesting in heists.
Rating: - One of my favorites of the year; simple but well done
Old school heist movie, based on true events in 1971, where there was no cool gadgetry ala 'Oceans 11'. Just the old-fashioned way of digging a tunnel and blowing things up. Well directed, acted, and great pacing makes this a real pleasure to watch.
Rating: - Heist Films Are Usually Entertaining, And This Is No Exception
Jason Statham is well on his way to becoming typecast. It seems like he's in a ton of these kind of action films lately, although this movie is a bit more subdued and complicated than some of them. At least in this heist flick, there are several twists and turns and you have to stay alert to follow who is exactly on the up-and-up and who isn't, and Statham isn't punching out 10 people at once.
This is another one of these modern-day films in which the crooks, the thieves, the bandits - whatever ... Read More
- "There can be no connection to 5 or 6."And that's where it gets interesting.
The Baker Street Gang hatches a plot to steal certain photographs of one of the Royal Princess' from a local bank being hoarded by drug kingpin and blackmailer. A crew of opportunist wannabe's is assembled, a crude plan is formed, then bang....off go the jackhammers. First half of the movie drags, and is very short on professionalism. Both the cops and robbers are exposed as pretty much being out of their element. Jason Statham doesn't do much to ... Read More
- The names of many of the people identified in this film have been changed to protect the guiltyDick Clement and Ian La Frenais wrote the film "The Bank Job" is supposedly based on the true story. This can possibly explain the complexity of the film. The film is more of a documentary than a shootemup or car chase film. At first, it looks very formula. Later you get interested in how it comes out.
Seems like somebody high up any the government or the royal family made a faux pas. This ended up on some glossies that allowed a high-profile criminal to escape prosecution. These photos ... Read More
- 3 stars out of 4The Bottom Line:
Though its title makes it sound like a generic genre exercise in the tradition of The Italian Job(s), this thriller is actually far more grounded in realism and brutality than you would expect and makes for a surprisingly satisfying motion picture--unformulaic and possessed of a convincing 70s aesthetic, it's a must watch for those interesting in heists.
- One of my favorites of the year; simple but well doneOld school heist movie, based on true events in 1971, where there was no cool gadgetry ala 'Oceans 11'. Just the old-fashioned way of digging a tunnel and blowing things up. Well directed, acted, and great pacing makes this a real pleasure to watch.
- Heist Films Are Usually Entertaining, And This Is No ExceptionJason Statham is well on his way to becoming typecast. It seems like he's in a ton of these kind of action films lately, although this movie is a bit more subdued and complicated than some of them. At least in this heist flick, there are several twists and turns and you have to stay alert to follow who is exactly on the up-and-up and who isn't, and Statham isn't punching out 10 people at once.
This is another one of these modern-day films in which the crooks, the thieves, the bandits - whatever ... Read More
