The story goes that during a long London evening, a group of unknown bank robbers dug a tunnel under some neighboring businesses and into a Baker Street bank. They dug through the floor and cleaned out the safe deposit boxes. Everything about this film, from its marketing materials to its presentation, promise it be based on the true story of a 1971 bank robbery where no criminals were ever arrested and no suspects were ever followed. It was one of those crimes that just came and went, and vanished without a trace, just as quickly as the assets seized.
Jason Statham plays Terry Leather, the criminal mastermind of the group in director Roger Donaldson’s newest caper flick, The Bank Job, only this time he isn’t so masterful. He is just another low level thief searching for that “big score” when it finally comes falling into his lap. It couldn’t be a more perfect time either. His auto shop has come into some hard times and he owes some money to a local thug, who keeps sending a pair of men there to collect the fees.
It is about this time when Martine Love (Saffron Burrows) shows up and provides him with information about a local bank. Apparently the bank is undergoing some sort of updating and the alarm isn’t going to be working for a week. How could she get such information so easily? She is seeing one of the higher ups who actually wants the robbery to down. He thinks that a compromising photograph taken of a member of the Royal Family that a blank militant, Michael X (Peter De Jersey), uses to keep himself out of trouble.
Turns out that there are a lot more incriminating photographs in these boxes than anyone realizes. After the job is done, with great simplicity I might add, the gang discover that the money they have collected from the heist is far from being the most valuable prize.
The Bank Job has enough side-plots to create another 2 or 3 films. It doesn’t just focus on the job itself; it focuses on everyone involved, from the team doing the job, to a various assortment of characters (and there are many of them) who have something to hide. It’s almost too much at times. Scribes Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais over complicate the story by adding too much fracas outside of the job itself. They tie all of these real life characters to the incident, which may have seemed like a clever enough option, but it’s just a bit too much. Some of it is just unnecessary.
At 110 minutes, the film works just fine. It’s captivating, intriguing, and enjoyable throughout. You’ve seen Statham drive cars and pull-off capers before but his role here has a bit more depth than any of his previous characters (even Chev Chelios) have ever provided him with, and he has the chops to carry it out. But the film would have definitely worked better with a few cuts here and there.
