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List Price: $19.95 | | Label: IFC Films
Salesrank: 29896
Released: September 2, 2008 |
| Our Price: $2.39 |
| Used Price: $2.40 |
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MPAA Rating: Unrated
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Half of the fun of writer-director Andrew Jenkins' feature debut - a heist film that gets everything right about a crime that goes all too wrong - is keeping track of who is doing what to whom and why. Who is robbing the bank? What are they after? These are the simple elements that keep rearranging themselves as Jinx (Nick Stahl) and Jessica (Erika Christensen) find themselves trapped inside a vault, with bank-robber Simon (Gavin Rossdale), stuck on the other side of the vault door, and the police stuck outside the bank. A fresh, freewheeling take on a genre perennial, Jenkins' film playfully hits the reset button every time things seem to settle into place.
How to Rob a Bank Reviews:
Boring 
2008-11-18 - I didn't know it was possible to make a boring bank robbery movie, but apparently it is. Jinx (Nick Stahl) is a disgruntled paycheck-to-paycheck Gen-Y quasi-slacker stuck in a bank vault with would-be robber Jessica (Erika Christensen). Gavin Rossdale is Simon, the anti-depressant popping sociopath waiting outside the vault with an itchy trigger finger and a bank full of hostages. Terry Crews is Officer DeGepse, the half-competent police negotiator allowing his strings to be pulled by Jinx. And David Carradine is the voice of Nick, the robbery's mastermind. In a useless plot device, the key bank robbers (Nick and Simon) take their names from Duran Duran since they use a fansite to mask their communications over the internet.
What happens? Not much. Jinx recruits Jessica to his side (despite lack of apparent chemistry between the two actors), sees through Nick's masterplan, rants about bank charges, plays Simon and DeGepse against one another to engineer a way out of the safe, and (presumably) splits the eventual take with Nick and Jessica.
At the end of the day, this seems like a waste of Nick Stahl's talent. Nothing really makes sense in this movie - from the robber's Duran-Duran-obsessed cabal, to the origin of the stolen money (banking fees which are somehow unclaimed), to the location of the all-important computer terminal (locked in a branch vault as opposed to a corporate site or secured facility), to Jinx's ability to turn his `captive' robber, to the final escape. Most of the movie appears either poorly conceived or unbelievable.
The `escape' scene is emblematic of the movie's inability to carry any semblance of logic, suspense, or momentum. Jessica has to appear as Jinx's captive to fool Simon, while appearing as an innocent bystander to escape DeGepse's notice and prosecution. All is solved by having a jammed gun (a recurring motif throughout the movie) go off and plug Simon in the forehead, ending everyone's troubles. Nice, tidy, and completely unrewarding. I'll take The Bank Job or Heat any day over this one any day.
Different 
2008-07-05 - I'll make this short and to the point but hopefully with enough to get you a basic outline of what to expect from this movie.
I thought the basic idea was pretty good but the dialogue in itself lacked moments at times, there are also several scenes that drag on and on (Mostly between the main character, Jinx, within the vault).
The effects are surprising, the soundtrack is pretty good. Some of the acting could have been done better and I think they should have improved with the Detective character. The way he delivered certain jokes practically ruined them.
What made me buy this movie, rent it, and watch it a couple of times? Gavin Rossdale. I've always been a big fan and his acting in this movie is amazing, he basically saved the movie and made it watchable.
I just skip to the parts that have him in them, he had some pretty entertaining moments and made the purchase worth while.
To close this up, I leave you with a few final words. If you're not a fan of Gavin Rossdale or don't have a clue who he is, this movie might have to be enjoyed by you in a different way.
My suggestion, if that is the case, is to kick back and relax. Enjoy the soundtrack and the few jokes tossed in the middle, you'll find it a quick and entertaining flick.
However, if you are a fan of Gavin Rossdale then you certainly will enjoy it no matter what.
