DVD Review: The Bank Job

The Bank Job, directed by Roger Donaldson (Thirteen Days) is a little gem that surprised me. I admire its streamlined "all business" procedural attitude and the fact that not a minute is wasted on extraneous character touches. Note the use of the word "extraneous," for I don't mean that character personalities are ignored. Just the opposite, each character's personality facets appears as an organic result of the ever-moving plotline. And, each actor ably highlights their respective moment without forgetting to support the overall story or stumbling to outshine their costars.

The film takes place in the seventies, and Britain's Princess Margret is photographed having a three-way tryst while on vacation. A black militant (Peter De Jersey) is in possession of these photographs and hides them to protect himself from reprisals by the authorities over his activities. Beautiful Martine (Saffron Burrows) is used by MI-5 to get to the photographs which are hidden in a safety deposit box in a bank on Baker Street in London. Martine convinces her childhood pals, a rough lot led by Terry (Jason Statham), to rob the bank, ostensibly for the money as she doesn't make them aware of the real object of the heist. As Terry and his crew discover, there is much more going on under the surface, and Martine may have just endangered not only their lives, but their families' as well.

Though it is supposedly based on true events, there is little information available to confirm these claims. But, that does not hinder one's enjoyment of the film. Its period setting evokes the classic British gangster films of the seventies, such as Get Garter, with their slick style and cold brutality.

Statham (The Transporter) is used to great effect here, bringing humor and a lion's ferocity to the role of down-on-his-luck family-man Terry. While there is an obvious attraction between childhood friend Martine and himself, the movie never wastes any time pursuing this incidental plot point up to its predictable dead end. It instead wisely focuses on the intricate plotline that eventually involves the seedy Soho porn industry, an S & M madam, and even the House of Lords.

Article Author: Tony Dayoub

Tony Dayoub is a screenwriter and film critic whose reviews can be found at Cinema Viewfinder, one of the top 100 film blogs according to Technorati. He recently covered the 47th New York Film Festival. Coverage of the festival and current releases can be found at Cinema Viewfinder. …

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