The Bank Job

Rating:

By Willie Krischke — July 15, 2008

Note to self: if you ever rob a bank, stick to the cash. Stay away, especially, from the safe deposit box marked “Pandora.”

“The Bank Job” is pretty standard heist fare, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I could probably watch blokes rob banks for days on end. I never get bored with heist flicks. Director Roger Donaldson never gets bored either, and never takes stupid shortcuts that sell the story short. The result is a tightly paced, imminently watchable flick, perhaps not the most unforgettable film, but certainly an enjoyable way to pass the time.
Jason Statham leads a gang of two-bit criminals (Ocean’s 11 these guys aren’t) who are handed the job of their life – an unprotected safe deposit vault. It’s handed to them by the gorgeous Saffron Burrows, who is working for MI-5. Turns out one of those safe deposit boxes contains some incriminating photos of a member of the royal family, and are being used as blackmail. MI-5 doesn’t negotiate with terrorists, but it does engineer bank heists. There’s an awful lot of sex and nudity in the first fifteen minutes – naked bodies are the director’s shorthand for sin and corruption — and then virtually none after that. If that kind of thing offends you, hit the fast forward(not the stop) button.

The first half of the movie is about the heist itself, and proceeds with a gritty efficiency. Statham assembles his team, and the joy of the movie is that these guys are so hopelessly unprofessional. Babes in the woods they are, and have no idea what they’re really getting into. Director Donaldson has plenty of fun taking advantage of their innocence and naivete, and the jokes and humor keeps things brisk and fun.

The boys move in to a building near the bank, dig a big hole, make a racket with a jackhammer, and pop up in the vault. And they manage to do it all without the help of a chinese contortionist, artificial earthquakes, or fake heart attacks. I guess bank robbery’s not as hard as George Clooney makes it look. Surprisingly, it’s fun and refreshing how simple “The Bank Job” keeps things. There’s a peculiar joy in watching some blue collar blokes pull off the presumed impossible.

Statham’s smarter than he looks, so naturally the good guy robbers don’t get caught by MI-5 like they’re supposed to. And then, all hell breaks loose. MI-5’s blackmailer (who is, as one character describes him, “a crazy dope-smoking lunatic pimp extortionist”) isn’t the only one storing secrets in a safe deposit box. There’s also the local porn king, who keeps his ledger of police payoffs there. And the Madame of a house frequented by members of the House of Lords. And…others. It’s not long before the police are the last thing Statham has to worry about. He wheels and deals from pay phones and in train stations, and somehow manages to walk away clean at the end. One of my favorite touches comes at the getaway; it’s not clear what just happened, and while I was trying to puzzle it out, Statham admits that he’s not sure what just happened, either.

“The Bank Job” has its faults and weaknesses – there’s at least one unnecessary storyline involving an MI-5 spy, and the standard worried/nagging wife that I’m beginning to think is a stipulation in the Screenwriter’s Guild contract. But it knows where to spend its time and energy, and never seems to drag or turn stuffy. The pacing of this thing is miraculous.

In many ways, “The Bank Job” is the perfect Friday night DVD viewing – engaging, entertaining, intelligent but it won’t depress you or make you think too hard. It will occupy you for two pleasant hours and then disappear from your consciousness entirely. It may not be art, but it’s not bad.

Recommended

If you’re looking for something to go with your popcorn on Movie Night.
If you enjoyed the “Oceans” movies, but thought they were maybe a bit contrived.
If you feel like you could never see too many movies about carefully planned bank robberies that go wrong.

Not Recommended