John's Movie Musings

There seems to be this sub-genre of British Heist movies hitting us from across the Pond. Starting with Robin Hood, it seems as if the Brits have this fascination with thievery. Or perhaps that's just the stuff they export over here 'cause we're the ones who like the five-finger discount.

The Bank Job is your typical bank-robbery-gone-bad-but-not-in-the-way-we-expected-to movie. In fact, it's so typical I was bored out of my mind for the first half.

Supposedly the movie is based on a true story in the 70s. Someone had some risque photos stored in a bank deposit box that needed to be dealt with. That's fine and all, but the parts before and during the actual "bank job" are pretty freakin dull. The movie tries to manufacture some suspense during the job, but I couldn't tell if those things actually happened, or if the director just realized the robbery was historically boring and needed a little spicing up.

Things begin to pick up once the crew finds something of interest in the vault and I found myself paying more attention. Parts are good, but the ending just kind of left things unsettled. Then, to top it all off, the final credits say that the events are true but the names have all been changed "to protect the guilty." That makes me think I'd find more truth in the Wikipedia article.

As you can see, Jason Statham is in this. He and lots of other people with accents are good enough for the genre. Not bad, but not great. Just like the movie.


Grade: C+