Hoping to continue his self reformed life, a petty thief lives with his wife and children in London but he soon returns to his old ways when a tempting offer to pull a bank heist is thrown at him.
A tight, classic-feeling film about losers banding together for one big score, then scrambling furiously as they realize they're in over their heads. It's fast, nifty, sharp and sweet.
The Bank Job is nothing more than an efficient time-killer with the added bonus of being based on a real misadventure. But, unlike its benighted cast of characters, it gets the job done without a hitch.
As some characters brazenly assert colonial imperatives, race and class commentary abound and "The Bank Job" eventually takes a vividly violent turn. But its subtext of history's long con doesn't keep the film from hitting great-heist high points.
The Bank Job is an often suspenseful and sleek crime movie which shows how a group of working class slumps exposed the scandalous nature of the rich, as both spooks and crims bay for their blood.
Longtime screenwriters Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais have woven a masterful narrative full of odd twists and dark humor from which Australian director Roger Donaldson and a prime cast mine plum characters and a tight plot to satisfying effect.
