It looks like heist films is going to be the current theme at the movie house. The Bank job is a suspenseful British thriller from 2008. It stars Jason Statham as Terry Leather, a small time crook who now owns and auto repair shop. The story takes place in 1971 and is based on the real Baker Street Robbery.
Terry is approached by an old flame, Martine Love (Saffron Burrows) with the idea of breaking into a bank's safety deposit vault. The bank is having it's alarm system retrofitted and she knows the days in which it will be completely deactivated.
Terry collects a crew together and agrees to make an attempt to rob the bank. They rent a small shop a couple off doors down and begin tunneling.
What Terry does not know is that the robbery is being master-minded by British Intelligence and the whole thing is a set-up. A Black Panther radical has compromising photos of a British royal that he uses to bribe his way out of arrests. They believe the photos are in the banks' safety deposit boxes. Once Terry and his crew tunnel in Martine is to retrieve the photos and turn them over to British Intelligence.
Things get more complicated when the crew steal documents pertaining to porn king, Lew Vogel (David Suchet). These documents reveal the names of hundreds of crooked Scotland yard officers who except bribes from Vogel. In addition another box contains compromising photo's of highly placed members of British government.
Terry is between a rock and a hard place as he attempts to out maneuver MI-5. MI-6, Lew Vogel and corrupt Scotland Yard police men.
The Bank Job is a suspenseful 111 minutes. the tension builds quickly and never lets up. Jason Statham shows why he is the new go-to action guy these days as the calm, cool, commanding Terry. Director Roger Donaldson (No Way Out, Dante's Peak) gives the film an authentic feel that gives the viewer the impression they are watching events as they really unfolded back in 1971. The rest of the supporting cast turns in solid performances, especially David Suchet and James Faulkner as con- man "Major" Guy Faulkner. There is a lot going on in the film, with inter-mingled plot lines, but the screenplay does a great job of keeping everything clear. There are two murders in the film that are never solved and that is because they were not solved in real life.
At The Movie House rating ***1/2 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment