Director Roger Donaldson tries to bring the generically titled, The Bank Job, into an exciting realm of crime caper non-fiction by holding tightly to the 70s era in which this true story took place and developing a tone of plausibility in spite of the roundabout scam portrayed here. Despite his best efforts, the admirable film ends up being as memorable as milk toast. It's a well styled heist film and does little to expand the genre. What it does get points for is stripping away the hammy comic stylings (Ocean's Eleven) and the super high tech gadgets (The Italian Job) that have made recent genre entries so run of the mill. It gets back to the mischievous fun of the formula in a charmingly retro low key style. Yet as characters come and go and the heist derails and gets back on track, I was left neither rooting for or against anybody. It is a capably made film but it never quite sinks its hooks in, and from that it can't be saved.Jason Statham growls his way through yet another antihero role. Here he plays Terry, a local London crook who is tempted by the alluring Martine (Saffron Burrows) to take a gig above his skill lever - a sure thing bank robbery she happens to have inside information on. As it turns out, of course, Martine isn't telling the whole tale. She's been enlisted by British government agents to stage a robbery that cannot be traced back to anyone in authority. The target is a few salacious photos stored in a safety deposit box that are being used as leverage by Michael X, a corrupt activist modeling himself after Malcolm X but mostly using his connections to fund drug and prostitution rings.
Terry and his crew get in on the gig and end up well over their heads as the true nature of their mission emerges. The unraveling and double crossing is sometimes fun but very often by the numbers. Kudos goes to Donaldson and his cast for milking the circumstances as best they could, but the story, however historically interesting, somehow feels a little slight and nonchalant. By the time the credits roll all of the pawns have been moved back in place and the chessboard has been done hardly any damage at all. A folley good for lovers of this subgenre and those seeking a more gritty looking thrill ride to counteract the slickness of the modern action pic.
Grade: C+
