Take a band of small-time criminals and a bank with a faulty security system, throw in a love triangle, some tunnel-digging and a fake storefront, and you’ve got all of the makings of a run-of-the-mill heist movie. The Bank Job doesn’t have the most creative of premises, but it finishes well ahead of expectations.
Based on a true story, The Bank Job starts with a minor-league team of criminals headed by Terry Leather (Jason Statham). Through a series of covert agendas and double-crossings, they are convinced to rob the safe deposit boxes of a local bank and end up in the possession of some incriminating materials belonging to everyone from Britain’s police force to the Royal Family. A series of “which fate is worse?” scenarios follow, where everyone in the group is forced to choose between tarnishing their reputations, going to jail or being killed.
The film oscillates between a lighthearted, almost goofy crime thriller and a much darker political portrait of early ’70s London. Instead of just being content to focus on the robbery, Donaldson examines the social context that allows the events to take place.
Despite its uniqueness, The Bank Job does have some trouble steering entirely clear of cliché. There’s the one noble and clean cop, a corruption-laden police corps and Statham’s likably honest blue-collar criminal. Still, the story is engaging enough, and there’s more to it than just whether or not the bank robbers get away clean.
The Bank Job isn’t going to keep you talking for days afterward. In fact, you’ll probably have given it sufficient thought five minutes after the credits have rolled. Still, it is an intelligent and worthy addition to the heist movie canon.
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