The Bank Job: Worth Your Precious Booty
Apr 5th, 2008 by Alex
I don’t remember The Bank Job getting a lot of hype but I think it might be the sleeper movie of the year. In short, I was more than pleasantly surprised. It’s good. Really good.
The first thing to know is this: don’t go see this movie because of Jason Statham. Not that he isn’t good, mind you. He does well (while managing to escape his recent beat-the-crap-out-of-everyone-while-making-it-look-cool typecast role in a slight way) but that’s not why you ought to see it.
Go see it because it’s a heist set in the UK, based on a true story.
Everyone loves a heist. Dane Cook knows better than most, claiming in one of his bits (NSFW) that most guys would rather be part of heist than have sex. I don’t know if I’d admit to that, but it would be pretty damned cool. Some of my favorite heist movies would include any of Guy Ritchie’s movies, the remade The Thomas Crowne Affair, Dead Presidents, and Heat. It may not be as action packed as that one, but I’d certainly add it to the list.
Nowhere in the previews or trailers that I saw did I see that it would be set in the UK. For some reason unbeknown to me, Americans — myself included — get a kick out of the British. Their accents, expressions and mannerisms. The more stereotypical the better. Fascinating stuff which we don’t get enough of here.
The supporting cast just fit. Mostly unknowns but it was David Suchet who played the local porn king. His deep, throaty voice was very distinctive and reminded me of David Carradine and I couldn’t place him until I got home; he played the prime terrorist in both Executive Decision and The In-Laws. I suppose that’s a different sort of stereotype, thus this role was an interesting twist.
Definitely worth a visit to the theater, even if you won’t want to stick your priceless artifacts in a safe deposit box anytime soon. Hope there’s room under the mattress.
And yes I just wanted to use the word “precious booty” in the title no matter how horrible.
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