Jason “Transporter” Statham leads us through a re-enactment of the 1971 Baker Street bank robbery in London, with liberties taken to make the story more complex and action packed.
Saffron Burrows is blackmailed by MI5 (or maybe it is MI6) and recruits a bunch of likely lads (including Statham) to break in to a branch of Lloyds Bank. The MI boys need her to recover some incriminating photos of a Royal from a safety deposit box, but her cohorts know nothing of her nefarious plans are in it for the cash and jewels. The robbery is a cleverly planned and is over half way through the movie, leaving the rest of the film to deal with the aftermath.
It’s an appealing premise, although including the overlapping story of Michael X (a Malcolm X wannabe) adds nothing of value. I thought that Statham was going to go the whole movie without fighting anyone, but he managed to sneak in some violence of his own towards the end. It is set in the seventies, and the most noticeable aspect of that is the women lacked fake tans, implants, and excessive waxing. It is nice to see a caper film that is old school in approach (so old school I kept expecting Michael Caine to appear) and not hyperactive, like those by Guy Ritchie, or overly glamorous, like Oceans 11. - fabulous sebastian
Saffron Burrows is blackmailed by MI5 (or maybe it is MI6) and recruits a bunch of likely lads (including Statham) to break in to a branch of Lloyds Bank. The MI boys need her to recover some incriminating photos of a Royal from a safety deposit box, but her cohorts know nothing of her nefarious plans are in it for the cash and jewels. The robbery is a cleverly planned and is over half way through the movie, leaving the rest of the film to deal with the aftermath.
It’s an appealing premise, although including the overlapping story of Michael X (a Malcolm X wannabe) adds nothing of value. I thought that Statham was going to go the whole movie without fighting anyone, but he managed to sneak in some violence of his own towards the end. It is set in the seventies, and the most noticeable aspect of that is the women lacked fake tans, implants, and excessive waxing. It is nice to see a caper film that is old school in approach (so old school I kept expecting Michael Caine to appear) and not hyperactive, like those by Guy Ritchie, or overly glamorous, like Oceans 11. - fabulous sebastian
Sometimes I think sebastian leaves stuff out of his reviews so no one will think that he really IS the film geek he pretends not to be. Failing that, I think he just leaves stuff out purely to annoy me.
First, let me just say, that i really enjoyed this film too. Hardly life changing material, and not exactly the "veritable documentary and realistic whodunnit" that some mouth-breather has opined over on IMDb, but still an entertaining little flick nonetheless. And why wouldn't it be? The credentials of the team behind it alone are enough to make you practically moist in the general pant-al area. Writers Dick Clements and Ian La Franais were the men behind some of my favourite tv shows of all time ( Auf Wiedersehn Pet, Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads, and of course Porridge ), and the director Roger Donaldson helmed Sleeping Dogs and Smash Palace in his home base of NZ, before hopping off to America to direct such filmic greats as Species and No Way Out.
And while we're here, I must tell a little anecdote from the set of "Bank Job".
Roger Donaldson said in a recent interview, that filming the brothel scene was one of his most difficult days of filming ever. The scene called for the women to be walking around wearing only garters... I know, hardly seems like hard work so far, but bear with me. Donaldson said that when he went to film the scene he discovered that most of the women had shaved their genitals, which would have been anachronistic, not to mention highly unlikely, in 1971. So the actresses had to wear pubic wigs, or "merkins", as they are known. Seriously, you've got to watch this scene, because it appears pretty bloody obvious that these girls are sporting something more akin to one of Richard O'Sullivan in "Man About the House's " sideburns down there, rather than anything home-grown. The big problem it seems, was that the merkins were hard to secure in place (think velcro but with only one side), and kept slipping, causing Donaldson much aggravation (is it any wonder so many Hollywood types turn to drugs?? Those poor bastards...)
First, let me just say, that i really enjoyed this film too. Hardly life changing material, and not exactly the "veritable documentary and realistic whodunnit" that some mouth-breather has opined over on IMDb, but still an entertaining little flick nonetheless. And why wouldn't it be? The credentials of the team behind it alone are enough to make you practically moist in the general pant-al area. Writers Dick Clements and Ian La Franais were the men behind some of my favourite tv shows of all time ( Auf Wiedersehn Pet, Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads, and of course Porridge ), and the director Roger Donaldson helmed Sleeping Dogs and Smash Palace in his home base of NZ, before hopping off to America to direct such filmic greats as Species and No Way Out.
And while we're here, I must tell a little anecdote from the set of "Bank Job".
Roger Donaldson said in a recent interview, that filming the brothel scene was one of his most difficult days of filming ever. The scene called for the women to be walking around wearing only garters... I know, hardly seems like hard work so far, but bear with me. Donaldson said that when he went to film the scene he discovered that most of the women had shaved their genitals, which would have been anachronistic, not to mention highly unlikely, in 1971. So the actresses had to wear pubic wigs, or "merkins", as they are known. Seriously, you've got to watch this scene, because it appears pretty bloody obvious that these girls are sporting something more akin to one of Richard O'Sullivan in "Man About the House's " sideburns down there, rather than anything home-grown. The big problem it seems, was that the merkins were hard to secure in place (think velcro but with only one side), and kept slipping, causing Donaldson much aggravation (is it any wonder so many Hollywood types turn to drugs?? Those poor bastards...)
Come on... you know you're gonna watch it now. -mister J.
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