This was good, kinda slow but good, some nice humor in it

B-

It's a solid film, but I can't help but feel I'll forget about this in a couple of days. It's serviceable, the performance's are good and I liked how everything came together in the end, but I don't think it's anything special. That saying, I think this is Statham's best performance to date. Before this we already knew he was a good action star, but I think this movie proves that he's actually a decent actor too.

***

Quite entertaining. Not much more I can ask for.

***

The Bank Job is one of the most pleasant surprises of the year to date. Director Roger Donaldson crafts a heist flick with enough laughs and thrills to keep the audience entertained throughout its running time. Jason Statham gets a great chance to show off some acting chops, and he takes full advantage of it. The rest of the cast is also in solid form. Those who go in looking for a enjoyable and memorable heist picture will not be disappointed.

Grade: B+

I'm still debating on whether I should go pick this up at the end of the week while it's still at a slightly discounted price or just wait a month for it to hit "previously viewed."

A-

The story on its own would get a B or B+ if set in modern day but the period era is just done so well, perfectly. That lifts it up and makes it something special. As to the coincidences, that helped emphasize that they were an inept group of burglars who only made it through based on sheer luck.

Keeley Hawes is effective in her supporting role as is the actor who plays the MI 5 agent Tim.

Fun, entertaining, and totally artistically bankrupt. People have compared it to Snatch, but it's got none of the style or flair and certainly none of the humour. Its main problem is that it's trying to tell this dirty, ugly story with this light-hearted wit, and the tension between the two extremes is not resolved adequately. The story unravels well, and suspense is kept up throughout, but it's hampered by really bland direction and the lack of anything interesting going on besides the narrative. A film should be more than just a means to tell a story, and this one proves it. Completely plain.

I disagree about calling the direction 'bland,' unless by bland you mean it's missing the irritating stylistic tics of a Guy Ritchie or Soderbergh. Donaldson does a terrific job crafting this thing. He keeps the proceedings tight and crisp and the staging is lively, funny and thrilling. I think his smart, unobtrusive work is the key to The Bank Job's success.

Really good work from all involved.

I even liked Jason Statham!

I loved this movie. Can't wait to buy it sometime. #4 of the year.


A

B


It's a fun heist flick that manages to distinguish itself from the likes of Ocean's Eleven/Twelve/Thirteen and The Italian Job by its well-done period setting and the fact that unlike those two there was more substance here to the plot. Speaking of which: I thought that towards the end of the film the whole deal just a tad too complicated and contrived and yet tied up so nicely and well. I know there are claims of this being a true story, but fact is that there were just some incidents that happened and the filmmakers spun a whole large storyline around it. I'm not sure whether it was necessary to reach out that far or whether a simple heist film followed by the pursuit of the photos would have been enough. The whole subplot about Hakim Jamal and the undercover spy (as good as the actress was) could have been dropped and the movie wouldn't have lost anything substantial.

Jason Statham is solid in the role that is actually different from his usual beat 'em up roles. Too bad that he isn't offered roles of this type more often, but is usually relegated to pure action fare. While I enjoy films like Transporter 2 or Crank, I think he's charistmatic enough to lead other films and he proves that with The Bank Job. Saffron Burrows who I have always enjoyed on the screen, delivers a nice performance too. I liked the relationship between her and Statham's character as well as its resolution. The supporting cast is solid too.

I think what surprised me about the film was how little it was actually centered on the heist itself (which is over about halfway into the film) and that the main focus was the heist's aftermath. The way it was dealt with left me with mixed feelings as I said. I enjoyed some of the treatment and the gritty 70s style - the film definitely didn't feel as polished as all recent heist flicks, but with topics like police corruption, organized crime, political scandals it sometimes felt like parts of the film belonged to a different movie altogether. The scope was sometimes too large, but it rarely deterred from my overall enjoyment of the film. The dry British humor worked, the well-done 70s setting was nice on the eye and you could just feel that the makers of the film were really into it and enjoyed the process. That shows in the play of the cast and the little details you see on film. It's a flawed film, but a good one. I wonder how well it will hold up on repeat viewings.

6/10 -> C

While never boring, it's never enthralling. The direction is really good, but bland characters and story too neatly plotted (especially for a story based on true events - nothing is that neat in real life) were a major letdown.

The part before the robbery is much better than the part following the events after it.

The Bank Job

While set in the 1970s, the film is slick and feels modern. It's not concerned with quirky characters and cockney mumbo jumbo like in Guy Ritchie movies, it's straight to the point and tells the story of the 1971 Baker Street robbery with scope and precision. I liked it a lot. Statham is probably at his best here, and the supporting cast also does a fantastic job, especially the old major James Faulkner. Saffron Burrows, who I last saw in Troy, was fine, but I spent the whole running time trying to figure out where I knew her from. The sex (or raunchy scenes) was cut in my copy, but I'm guessing they don't add much. From the director of The Getaway, no wonder this movie excelled in the heist scenes.

The marketing of the movie does lead the viewer to think it's another Snatch or Lock Stock style of film with jokes and joviality at its core, which is why I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't, but at first it was just unsettling to find that it didn't match its marketing. Poirot himseld, David Suchet, makes an appearance as Vogel the mob boss, and he gets his just returns at the hands of Statham. I would have liked to have seen the demise of "Michael X", but I suppose a paragraph in the black sufficed.

The script didn't really stand out as great or terrible, neither did the music, the cinematography or the acting - it was all competent. A good, fun, honest British bank heist thriller.

B+

I can watch this movie any time. It is just pure, sexy fun.

Jason Statham at his best

B+

Pretty great, it uses history in an excellent way to tell the story. It's constantly thrilling and great lead in Statham and Burrows, I also really liked Stephen Campbell Moore as Kev. Roger Donaldson does a really good job to keep this compelling throughout, from the set-up to the planning and aftermath, much improved from Seeking Justice which I watched a bit earlier in the week. It's R rating is well applied and it's probably one of the most enjoyable British films I've seen.

A-