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The Bank Job | 
 enlarge | Director: Roger Donaldson
Actors: Jason Statham, Saffron Burrows, Stephen Campbell Moore, Daniel Mays, James Faulkner
Studio: Lionsgate
Category: Movie
Buy New: $3.99
Rating:  66 reviews
Sales Rank: 114
Genre: Action
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: Video On Demand
Running Time: 112 Minutes
ASIN: B001E7EONC
Theatrical Release Date: March 7, 2008
Release Date: October 15, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 61 more reviews...
 Good one........ July 21, 2008
BJ (East Peoria, IL United States)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
Think "Snatch" & "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels"!
Good movie, Jason Statham rarely disappoints and doesn't once again in "The Bank Job"!
I wasn't sure about this movie, the preview looked good, several sketchy reviews said otherwise. As usual, the big time, well known reviewers were wrong!
The movie keeps you guessing with twists and turns, best yet, it was apparently written about the actual 1971 true-life robbery of a bank in Baker Street, London, from which the money and valuables stolen were never recovered.
Don't miss out on "The Bank Job"!
When you open Pandora's box, you just never know what you'll find in it July 20, 2008
Baking Enthusiast (Chicago, IL USA)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
Set in the swinging London of 1971, "The Bank Job" is a riotously fun heist film that's loosely based on actual events. Known then as the "walkie-talkie bank job," it was the biggest bank robbery of its time and probably the most controversial. Apparently, the loot from this heist did not consist merely of cash and jewels, but some rather more important documents that could embarrass the royal family.
The heist is prompted, really, by the British government's inability to incarcerate a criminal slumlord and pimp, Michael Abdul Malik, known as Michael X (Peter De Jersey). A self-styled gadfly and pseudo-Black-Panther wannabe from Trinidad, he holds a get-out-of-jail card in the form of photographs he'd taken earlier of a Very Improper Personage (later to surface as Princess Margaret) in very compromising...uh...positions with lovers during an island escapade. These photos are kept in his safe deposit box at Lloyds Bank. Also in one of the boxes is a ledger kept by the smut king Lew Vogel (played by the versatile David Suchet), detailing payoffs to crooked cops, and another box kept by a `Madame,' the contents of which depict certain MPs in...uh...non-parliamentary scenarios. Evidently, everyone's been a naughty boy and girl.
Meanwhile, a former model with East End roots, Martine Love (Saffron Burrows), is aided by a her lover, an MI5 spook, in beating the rap for transporting drugs into the UK. In exchange, she has to call on her petty criminal friends to break into the Lloyd's Bank vault and retrieve the compromising photos of said VIP. Innocent of the true motive behind the heist, her friend Terry Leather (Jason Statham) agrees to the proposition, himself needing fast cash to pay off debts to some scary thugs. The crew consists of Terry, Martine, Terry's friends Kevin Swain (Stephen Campbell Moore), Dave Shilling (Daniel Mays), and Eddie Burton (Michael Jibson), and outside help in a Maj. Guy Singer (con artist extraordinaire), and Bambas (a tunneling expert). The plan is to take over the lease of a handbag store, Le Sac, and tunnel from its underground to the chicken take-out store adjacent to the bank, and finally into the bank's vault itself. (Their total loot was reportedly 4M.) Terry suspects that Martine is hiding something, and as things get even more complicated, the crew finds themselves chased by the MI5, the cops, and Vogel's henchmen, as well as engaging in a bargain brokered by Lord Mountbatten himself! (Absurdly hilarious, but who knows? Real life is stranger than fiction.)
Terrific acting all throughout, especially by Statham, and lots of twists and turns to keep things fresh. Swinging London was depicted extraordinarily well; production values were superb. A bit of comic dialogue and scenes in between ups the fun factor. One of the DVD extras which shows photos of the actual crime scene, especially the tunnel dug through Le Sac, were quite interesting. Comparing them to the film, the meticulous duplication of details was remarkable. The heist itself was audacious and entertaining, but it's the back-stories that bring real excitement into this. The actual heist is a true story but the damning photos are mere conjecture. A D-Notice (a sort of gag-the-press action) was issued at the time of the real events and it never surfaced as fact that the photos were indeed of Princess Margaret. She did have a party-girl image in the 1960s, and her exploits were fodder for the British rags. Michael X himself was hanged in Trinidad in 1975, but his file still remains closed until 2054. Though the robbery made the headlines, it quickly died down only after a few days. What was really behind all this? Well, that's left for the viewer to speculate. After all, that's part of the entertainment.
Edge of Your Seat Heist Thriller July 2, 2008
Eric M. Milillo (West Islip, NY)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Based on the1970s true story about a group of amateur crooks who rob a British bank and get away with a little more than some cash and jewels. They think they have a once in a lifetime opportunity when they find out the bank's security system is temporarily out of service. What they don't know is that they're being used by government agents to retrieve some incriminating photos of a princess caught in the act of engaging in some undiscriminating sexual behavior. Before they know it, they are being hunted down by government agents, police and mobsters who were storing their own incriminating evidence in those very same safety deposit boxes.
"The Bank Job" is an edge of your seat heist movie. The fact that it is based on true events make this film all that much more interesting. Don't get the feeling that your getting an "Oceans" type heist movie. No high tech gadgetry or disguises here. It's shovels and jackhammers, a good ol' get your hands dirty robbery.
Jason Statham proves once and for all that he is capable of being a good actor. He nearly goes the entire movie without hitting somebody. Overall the entire cast was brilliant. "The Bank Job" has enough action, plot twists and suspense to keep you entertained throughout and will leave you feeling fully satisfied when the credits roll.
Entertaining Period Thriller with Plenty of Suspense and Intrigue. July 21, 2008
mirasreviews (McLean, VA USA)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
"The Bank Job" stretches the truth of the 1971 heist of Lloyd's Baker Street Bank in London into a smart, entertaining political thriller. Ex-model Martine Love (Saffron Burrows) is having a fling with MI5 bureaucrat Tim Everett (Richard Lintern) when she lands in hot water over a drug charge. In exchange for her freedom, Martine convinces some old friends that the safe deposit vault at Lloyd's is ripe for the picking. Terry (Jason Statham) is a slightly shady car dealer with a history of small-time crime and a shine for Martine. Kevin (Stephen Campbell Moore) is a photographer ex-boyfriend, and Dave (Daniel Mays) and old pal. Together, they plot and execute a 4 million heist, but, unbeknownst to the thieves, the real danger lies in the secrets, not the money, that the safe deposit boxes hold.
"The Bank Job" is a blend of fact, speculation, fabrication, and real events that have been connected in a highly speculative fashion. The bank robbery did happen more or less as presented, but there was apparently a D-notice issued by MI5 several days later that forbid the press from speaking further of the crime for reasons of national security. Even stranger, the thieves were eventually caught, convicted, and served prison sentences, but all in secret. Their names have never been revealed. Because no one knows who they are, the characters in the movie are fictional. The real robbery was certainly not orchestrated by MI5, who need only present a warrant if they want access to a safe deposit box, but the agency does seem to have taken an interest after the fact. The idea that photos of a frolicking royal were at the heart of the matter is based on secondhand information, and speculation about a connection to Michael Abdul Malik is due to his having a box in that Lloyd's vault.
The "based on a true story" tag in the movie's logo is misleading, but there were some strange and bewildering aspects to the Lloyd's Baker Street Bank robbery which remain mysterious to this day. "The Bank Job" takes the speculation, ties it all together with some pure fiction, and creates a top-notch political thriller with great 1970s period atmosphere. It's all very cynical toward government and law enforcement, and, in that way, perhaps it reflects the mood in 1971 and 2008 as well. Honorable thieves, corrupt cops, hypocritical security services and politicians, raunchy royals, sex, violence, greed, sleaze...this movie packs it all into a tight, suspenseful package. I'm surprised "The Bank Job" didn't do better at the box office. With plenty of intrigue and thrills, i's the best movie I've seen so far in 2008.
The DVD (Lions Gate 2008 single disc): The single disc edition includes 2 featurettes, a feature commentary, and a theatrical trailer. "Inside the Bank Job" (16 min) is a making-of documentary that interviews director Roger Donaldson, writers Ian Le Frenais and Dick Clement, producers, cast, and some crew about the film's tone, locations, production design, story, and the large cast. "The Baker Street Bank Raid" (15 min) is about the real robbery. The ham radio operator who picked up the thieves' transmission is interviewed, as well as some historians, journalists about the robbery and the suspicious aspects of the case. There is a feature commentary by director Donaldson, actress Saffron Burrows, and composer J. Peter Robinson. It's a constant commentary but not very focused or informative. Subtitles for the film are available in English and Spanish.
Awesome and then some August 7, 2008
Been There (San Francisco, CA USA)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Coinciding with the DVD release, a review in the Wall Street Journal suggested that this was a superb film. And it IS a superb film but for reasons far different than what I anticipated - since the review was not exactly going into many details. [Aside to the reviewer who complained about "sex" - duh, where? I abhor those kinds of scenes and there was merely suggestiveness in this film rather than the boring full-blown sex that passes for "entertainment" these days. Although I will concede that a couple of the violence scenes were not my cup of tea; I am not much into violence but it was easy to ignore the minor incidences because they did not go overboard and were not gratuitous in showing violence at every turn like one so often sees in films these days.]
One great thing about this movie is that everything is totally believable and realistic...you could actually imagine the things (good, bad, idiotic and otherwise) actually happening! An excellent portrayal of people's pressure points - and why sometimes their actions are not driven from within but from without. In spades. It was just delightful from beginning to end in the characters whose stories were told.
I am a foreign film buff and this film is more in line with that type of film than the awful stuff that passes for "entertainment" from Hollywood.
By the end of the film, I was really hoping that the last scene(s) were true. It was nice to believe, but one never really knows which parts are truly close to the fact and which are fiction for the audience to enjoy. It did nail the 70's so brilliantly that I thought I was back reliving those days again - even though it was Britain and not the US.
Another bonus is that it managed to portray corruption a la LA Confidential, so if you liked that movie, then you will also enjoy this one - probably enjoy it more than LA Confidential because it is more believable from beginning to end.
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