Urban Thought Collective

THE BANK JOB (R)

MOVIE BIASES:
Love Statham (usually), and Roeper’s ga-ga for this movie.

MAJOR PLAYERS: Jason Statham (Snatch), Saffron Burrows (TV’s “Boston Legal”), Richard Lintern (Syriana), and director Roger Donaldson (No Way Out)

Jason Statham is almost a cottage industry unto himself these days, happily typecasting himself as the charismatic gangster with big, huge testicles. He’s rough, he’s tough, he’ll street fight your house down. But is it getting a little old? Using the old “based on a true story” bit, “The Bank Job” demonstrates that while Statham may only be playing Statham, he’s a man who clearly knows, and excels at, his niche.

Terry Leather (great name; Statham), a small time, retiring hood with a burgeoning family and a serious debt to gangster Mr. Jessel, is approached by old flame Martine Love (Burrows) for a robbery of Lloyd’s Bank of London, a plot held together by a shady associate of hers named Tim (Lintern). Tim happens to be a vital cog in the British government over on Whitehall Street, a government desperate to get rid of drug dealing, pimping shakedown artist/black nationalist tyrant Michael X (Peter de Jersey), who keeps flouting the law by his blackmail of the Royal Family with compromising photos of Princess Margaret. Mix in sheisty local pornographer Lew Vogel (David Suchet), bribery, racial politics, the ’70s, MI5 (or 6), walkie-talkies, and a stout limey accent to the proceedings and the title is the simplest thing about this “Bank Job.”

Nipples, brothels, threesomes, oh my! Setting the tone from the outset, “The Bank Job” is a very sexy, briskly paced, solid piece of entertainment. Although set in 1971 London, Donaldson’s “Job” doesn’t mock the period or the setting; nary a piece of tie-dye to be found. However, it does plunge you headfirst into a freer, more liberal time of flower power, peace sign bracelets, and fluffy afros without commenting or passing judgment. No silly ’70s era musical scores either - just a heist-worthy, adventurous score backed by nice sound effects of a crime caper. All this is window dressing for a well-scripted, complex web of deceit and intrigue, penned by Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais (Across the Universe) that is, like the rest of the movie, flashy in a low-key way. This isn’t a James Bond, Q-inspired “Bank Job” but a good old fashioned pick-axe-and-tunnel type of affair.

With Jason Statham leading the charge, what did you want - subtlety? Perennially unshaven, oddly balding, and charismatically growling, Statham is the Brit-pick portrait of a very flawed antihero (Terry’s “been involved in the odd bit of skullduggery”) leading a gang of other amateur misfits. As the only female of the crew, the winsome Saffron Burrows projects poise and an active, charmingly duplicitous mind as effortless beauty Martine Love (another great name). Richard Lintern’s Tim is understandably smarmy as a government official while Daniel Mays’ Dave Shilling is appreciably goofy as an unlikely onetime porn star cum bank robber.

So why does Richard Roeper have a thing for this film? Well, I guess it’s just one of those movies that does what a movie is supposed to do: it takes you to another place. I have to admit I was a little down going into this screening. Yet for those 110 minutes of the film, I was sucked in and simply had a good time. This flick is genuinely exciting - you’re really pulling for the thieves. Even more remarkable, this truly IS based on a true story, known about the Isle as the “Walkie-Talkie Robbers” - plus Statham’s roguish charm (and de rigueur dose of fisticuffs) holds it all together. For those who are hoping that Jason Statham’s time is up, I’m sorry to inform you that he has at least one more (brilliant) “Job” to do.

@@@@ REELS
(FOUR REELS)
An urban legend/instant classic.

Edwardo Jackson is the author of the novels EVER AFTER and NEVA HAFTA, (Villard/Random House), a writer for The 213 Magazine, and an LA-based screenwriter. Visit his website at www.edwardojackson.com where his new novel I DO? is available NOW.