Saffron Burrows Movie:

		List Price: $39.99		Label: Lionsgate Salesrank: 16680 Released: July 15, 2008
		Our Price: $9.43
		Used Price: $6.89
		MPAA Rating: R (Restricted) Media: Blu-ray

Editorial Review:
A small-time crook takes on a bank heist when an old friend offers him an inside track to the vault. Along with his hastily assembled team of low-rung criminals Terry (Statham) finds himself deep into this real-life heist and quite suddenly the target of ruthless mobsters the police government officials at the highest level and even the royal family.System Requirements:Running Time: 110 minutesFormat: BLU-RAY DISC Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLERS UPC: 031398236146 Manufacturer No: 23614

Description of The Bank Job [Blu-ray] + Digital Copy:
A cheerful, energetic, and completely entertaining movie, The Bank Job follows some small-time hoods who think they've lucked into a big-time opportunity when they learn a bank's security system will be temporarily suspended--little suspecting that they're being manipulated by government agents for their own ends. The result is that the movie doubles its pleasures: While the robbery itself has the usual suspense of a heist film, when the robbery is over the hoods find themselves being hunted by the police, the government, and brutal criminal kingpins who were storing dangerous information in a safety deposit box. The Bank Job won't win any awards, but it's enormously fun. Director Roger Donaldson (No Way Out, Species) propels the action along with vigor, editing zippily with perfect clarity among multiple storylines and various colorful characters. Jason Statham (Snatch, The Transporter), as the leader of the bank robbers, successfully steps away from his usual bone-crunching roles to a more human presence. The rest of the cast--including Saffron Burrows (Deep Blue Sea), Keeley Hawes (Tipping the Velvet), David Suchet (Poirot), and many faces familiar from British film and television--give their characters the right degree of personality and flavor without getting fussy or detracting from the headlong rush of the story. A little sex, a lot of action, a sly sense of humor, and a twisty plot; if more movies had these basic pleasures, the world would be a happier place. --Bret Fetzer

Stills from Bank Job (click for larger image)

The Bank Job [Blu-ray] + Digital Copy Reviews:
solidly crafted crime drama
2009-11-03 - Terry Leather is a shady car dealer in East London who finds himself in hock to a local gangster who`s putting the screws on everyone who owes him money. Desperate for some quick cash, Terry allows a former friend and model to trick him into helping pull off a major bank heist, unaware that he and his buddies are actually being used by the British authorities to steal some scandalous photos that, if published, could seriously embarrass the royal family. The potential blackmailer is a black radical who models himself on Malcolm X and who thinks he holds the upper hand with the authorities as long as he is in possession of the pictures, which he has put in a safety deposit box in Lloyds Bank. Terry and his crew, unaware of the back story and convinced there is a fortune to be had for the taking, fall right into the authorities' trap, bearing all the risk should the scheme somehow fail, yet sharing in few of the rewards should it come off as planned.

Based on an actual event that took place in 1971, "The Bank Job" is a solid, old-fashioned heist drama directed by Roger Donaldson with a super-abundance of suspense, energy and style. There are twists and double crosses aplenty in the screenplay by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, which uses the bank robbery as a mere jumping-off point for a scathing survey of the London crime scene, ranging from the lowest levels of two-bit thievery to the upper reaches of police and governmental corruption. There's also just enough uniqueness in the setup to keep us from feeling we know where the story is heading while it`s still playing itself out. Despite a rather large cast of characters, we're usually able to keep most of the people straight during the course of the drama, though there are a few moments in the back half of the film where a little more clarity might have been helpful.

In a bit of a change-of-pace for himself as an actor, Jason Statham gets to shed his "Transporter" action-hero image in favor of a more recognizable working-class stiff and family man who happens to have a serious penchant for running afoul of the law. Also compelling is Saffron Burrows - a dead-ringer for a young Charlotte Rampling - who stars as the seductive go-between who lures Terry and his men into a plan that may well lead to their undoing.

The Great Bank Robbery of 1971 had the dual effect of not only turning villains into heroes but of helping to purge much of the corruption and rot lurking in the top echelons of British society. It's a fascinating piece of twentieth century history brought to vivid and memorable life in a gripping and stylish film.

I loved it
2009-09-12 - This Statham movie had a great story line and great ending. The little guy can win!

Can I bend you to my will, Mr. Brown?
2009-07-13 - A fantastic look into the underbelly of 1970s London, loosely based on the story of Michael X and the Baker Street bank robbery. With all the makings of high drama, we have a group of thugs quasi-anonymously hired to break into a bank vault to steal the contents of a specific box, thought to hold pictures of a royal family member in questionable circumstances, with the freedom to steal whatever else they like along the way. Straightforward enough. The robbery isn't the real focus though, and they succeed. What is critical is what happens after, when another covert government group becomes involved with further incriminating evidence found in the vault and many of the deposit box holders don't want to reveal the contents of their boxes. Though the plot does deviate from the story, proper, it's fiendishly well done and viewers end up agonizing over who to pull for. Definitely worth watching and not at all a family film.

"There can be no connection to 5 or 6."
2009-06-27 - And that's where it gets interesting.

The Baker Street Gang hatches a plot to steal certain photographs of one of the Royal Princess' from a local bank being hoarded by drug kingpin and blackmailer. A crew of opportunist wannabe's is assembled, a crude plan is formed, then bang....off go the jackhammers. First half of the movie drags, and is very short on professionalism. Both the cops and robbers are exposed as pretty much being out of their element. Jason Statham doesn't do much to add to the excitement here and the rest of the cast is boringly British.

Second half of the movie will wake you up however, assuming you haven't lapsed into a coma by now. The intrigue builds as MI5/6 discovers there are more compromising photos belonging to one of the local Madames to procure. When the gang realizes the degree of trouble they're in, enter a local gangster who also had a set of books on safe deposit and Statham's crew is now between your proverbial rock and a hard place.

Its the second half of the film that makes it worth suffering through the first, the ending is right out of a (good) Guy Ritchie flick. Very well done. I just wish somebody would give Statham some acting lessons, he basically plays the same character here you have seen a dozen times in the last few years. 3 chips

The names of many of the people identified in this film have been changed to protect the guilty
2009-06-21 - Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais wrote the film "The Bank Job" is supposedly based on the true story. This can possibly explain the complexity of the film. The film is more of a documentary than a shootemup or car chase film. At first, it looks very formula. Later you get interested in how it comes out.

Seems like somebody high up any the government or the royal family made a faux pas. This ended up on some glossies that allowed a high-profile criminal to escape prosecution. These photos end up in a bank's safety deposit box. A shady car dealer Terry (Jason Statham) is convinced to Rob the safety-deposit bank vault without realizing that he is helping to retrieve the photos. The story gets awfully convoluted from here and includes MI5, other government agencies, police departments, and local criminals; David Suchet plays one.

How will this all turn out? We will see as the story unfolds.

The acting was well done and the props were excellent for the period piece Set in London in the early 1970's. This may not have been an exceptional film but it will hold your attention to the end.
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Do not forget to take advantage of the extras on the Blu-ray version.

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