MOVIE: THE BANK JOB

The Bank Job is a British 2008 crime film directed by Roger Donaldson and starring Jason Statham, based on a 1971 true-life robbery of a bank in Baker Street, London, from which the money and valuables stolen were never recovered. The story was prevented from being told because of a D-Notice (now known as a DA-Notice) government gagging request, allegedly to protect a prominent member of the British Royal Family. According to the producers, this movie is intended to reveal the truth for the first time, although it includes significant elements of fiction and the extent to which it represents historical fact is difficult to determine.

It also may be based upon the scandal causing Lord Lambton's resignation, with Lew Vogel representing the Soho porn baron Bernie Silver.

Terry Leather (Statham) was a small-time car dealer who was trying to leave his shady past behind and start a family. Though he'd never been involved in any major crimes, he wasn't exactly on the straight and narrow his whole life either. Martine Love (Saffron Burrows) is a beautiful model from Terry's old neighborhood who knows that her former neighbor is no angel. When Martine proposes a foolproof plan to rob a Baker Street bank, Terry recognizes the danger but realizes this may be the opportunity of a lifetime.

As the operation gets underway, the resourceful band of thieves burrows its way into a safe-deposit vault at the Lloyds Bank in Marylebone, quickly hitting a literal treasure trove of cash and priceless gems. But while the crew did know that the safe-deposit boxes contained millions in riches, they didn't realize that they also contained secrets that implicated everyone from London's most notorious underworld gangsters to powerful government figures, and even the Royal Family.

Though the crime would make headlines all across Britain for several days after the fact, a government gag order eventually brought all reporting on the case to an immediate halt. Could it be that the most notorious bank robbers in recent memory were actually the most innocent people involved in this scandalous crime?



I mostly liked The Bank Job because it is a movie that you wouldn't think would be based on a true story when it is and instead of the filmmakers trying to action up the real life story, they don't.

Statham, who is probably one of the busiest actors in the movies today, turns in a good performance of a man who gets himself into something that he didn't expect and tries to get himself out. Statham has been in some movies that I will never watch but he is good at his job when he picks the right movies, like The Bank Job. I expected The Bank Job to be a thrill a minute movie with Statham supplying some head banging. He does do a little head banging but the movie sticks with its plot and doesn't turn into an action movie.

I'm sure the filmmakers distorted some facts here and there but for the most part, I think they stuck with the actual events. The movie plays like it could have happened this way with just a little bit of flare and dramatics. Although there is a little bit too much of the dramatics and the movie runs a little long than what it should be. All in a all, a good movie with a true story that I am going to read up on Wikipedia.

The Bank Job: 6 out of 10

The DVD features a making-of thingy, a trailer and a behind-the-scenes thingy.

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