The Bank Job

"Some names have been changed to protect the guilty." Such is the cheeky spirit of THE BANK JOB, a solidly entertaining British heist film based on England's famous walkie-talkie bank job. The year is 1971 and Michael X--emerging black activist and budding crime lord--has British authorities over a barrel after he gets hold of sexually incriminating photos of royal Princess Margaret. Desperate to recover the photos, the government pressures troubled model Martine Love (Saffron Burrows) to recruit a team and steal the bank safety deposit box containing the photos. Martine promptly enlists small-time con man and old flame Terry Leather (Jason Statham), luring him and his crew with the promise of millions. But also in their loot is a ledger detailing payoffs made to crooked cops by reputed gangster Porn King Vogel (David Suchet). Leather and mates soon find themselves on the run from both the British spy community and the ruthless British underworld, needing to stay one step ahead if they are to stay alive. Veteran director Roger Donaldson (THE WORLD'S FASTEST INDIAN, NO WAY OUT) deftly juggles the shifting intricacies and loyalties of THE BANK JOB's plot, balancing backroom politics with bank caper humor and cringe-inducing criminal brutality. Statham (LOCK, STOCK & TWO SMOKING BARRELS) is excellent as the petty criminal who finds himself in over his head, and who will need some quick thinking and a whole lot of guts to protect his friends and family. Briskly paced and lively in its handling of some serious intrigue, THE BANK JOB is an enjoyable entry in the bank robbery genre.

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"Roger Donaldson's crime drama does a sterling job of recreating the London of the early 1970s....Vivid and often entertaining..." -- Geoffrey Macnab , (Sight and Sound)

"The workmanlike title THE BANK JOB is a nice fit for this wham-bam caper flick....Efficiently directed....It fancifully revisits the mysterious whos and speculative hows of a 1971 London vault cleanout..." -- Manohla Dargis , (New York Times)

"Well-paced, smartly told and unpretentious, this solid British heist thriller also has moments of invention and imagination." -- Claudia Puig , (USA Today)

"[The film] earns its distinctiveness from an almost ridiculous series of fortuitous mishaps that befall our criminal 'heroes'....The real fun comes as nearly every genre convention unravels in one clever way or another." -- Kevin Crust , (Los Angeles Times)

"One of the pleasures of THE BANK JOB is that it returns us to the days when robbing a bank was a gritty, hole-in-the-wall affair....Watching THE BANK JOB, you buy the heist, and you also buy the entertaining layer cake of British society..." -- Grade: A- -- Owen Gleiberman , (Entertainment Weekly)

3 stars out of 4 -- "[A] juicy, fact-based caper movie that's full of surprises....Director Roger Donaldson keeps the suspense crackling." -- Peter Travers , (Rolling Stone)

3 stars out of 5 -- "[Donaldson] manages to maintain a distinctive '70s look, with sudden zooms and grimy colours....A tough British crime movie to be proud of..." -- Helen O'Hara , (Empire)

3 stars out of 5 -- "[E]xpertly directed....[The film] settles into a linear, engaging, suspenseful groove....One of the things that makes the picture work is its unusual setup." -- Glenn Kenny , (Premiere)

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