I’ll admit it: I’m a sucker for a good heist movie. There is something hypnotizing about watching a group of people commit a (mostly) nonviolent crime.
Why is it that we always root for the criminals to get away with it?
Maybe because pulling off a heist takes such careful planning, such perfect calculation, that we can’t help but admire the gumption of those who actually decide to do it. Plus, since the antagonists of heist films are frequently the “evil” rulers of large businesses, like banks or casinos, we get to enjoy the Schadenfreude of watching the little guys screw over the big ones. Personally, I like the glimpse these films allow into a world in which, in all likelihood, I will never take part.
All of these are components that make almost any heist movie entertaining, but Roger Donaldson’s new film, “The Bank Job,” has a bit more to offer than most recent films of the same genre. Unlike the remake of “The Italian Job” or any of the “Ocean’s” films, “The Bank Job” is not all glitz and glamour; in fact, it is a gritty film that reveals the less alluring elements of robbery. The characters are not charming, smooth-talkers who can weasel their way out of any situation, and the final payoff doesn’t come without some major sacrifices. Even the heist itself is on a smaller scale: this band of thieves isn’t breaking into a Las Vegas casino or an Italian palazzo, but merely a single, unexceptional bank in London.
The film is actually based on the Baker Street bank robbery of 1971, the details of which were kept from the public for over thirty years due to a government order gagging the press. The film opens as ex-model Martine Love (Saffron Burrows) tips off Terry Leather (Jason Statham) to a fail-safe bank robbery opportunity that she hopes he and his friends will be interested in. Martine wants to hit a room full of safe deposit boxes that, split evenly, would provide for those involved for the rest of their lives. Terry and company eventually agree, but what they don’t realize is that Martine is actually on a mission on behalf of certain government officials in order to retrieve incriminating photos of a particular member of the royal family from a safety deposit box.
Michael X, a British counterpart to Malcolm X, is using the photos as blackmail in order escape criminal charges and leave the country. However, not even Martine realizes how much corruption is concealed within those shiny safe deposit boxes, and the robbery propels them all into a tailspin as those who held dangerous secrets in that bank chase them down.
Donaldson’s film is controlled, and despite its fast paced, intricate plot, it never becomes more confusing than it is supposed to be. It is refreshing to see a heist without a George Clooney or Brad Pitt personality: the characters in this film only kind of know what they are doing, and they make a lot of amateur mistakes along the way.
Donaldson shows his audience the grime and sweat involved in carrying out a crime, which is a nice departure from the clean, slick procedure that films typically present. It’s especially fun to see a 1970s London from a criminal, rather than a bourgeois point of view.
The ensemble cast is all around solid, with believable people shining through rather than just stock characters who take part in a crime. However, the one part of the film I questioned was Terry’s non-reaction to the death of a friend as a result of the robbery. Understandably, he is still occupied with tying up the loose ends of the robbery himself, but I was surprised by Terry’s lack of emotion.
Donaldson has made a very entertaining film, but it’s not just fluff. There are scenes that will make some quite squeamish, so be prepared for some cover-your-eyes moments. “The Bank Job” is not simply about small-time crooks triumphing over big business, but about how one crime could lead to the exposure, and eventual overhaul, of the widespread corruption in one of the most influential cities in the world.
