Terry is a small-time car dealer trying to leave his shady past behind and start a family. Martine is a beautiful model from Terry's old neighbourhood who knows that Terry is no angel. When Martine proposes a foolproof plan to rob a bank, Terry recognises the danger but realises this may be the opportunity of a lifetime. As the resourceful band of thieves burrows its way into a safe-deposit vault at a Lloyds Bank, they quickly realise that, besides millions in riches, the boxes also contain secrets that implicate everyone from London's most notorious underworld gangsters to powerful government figures, and even the Royal Family. Although the heist makes headlines throughout Britain for several days, a government gag order eventually brings all reporting of the case to an immediate halt.
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.
– Kevin Crust,
Los Angeles Times,
7 Mar 2008
fresh:
Thanks to the twin pens of screenwriters Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, what a jam-packed and misanthropic fiction this is.
– Rick Groen,
Globe and Mail,
7 Mar 2008
fresh:
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.
– Tom Long,
Detroit News,
7 Mar 2008
fresh:
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.
– Peter Rainer,
Christian Science Monitor,
7 Mar 2008
rotten:
It's something new for heist pictures: a movie that can't even rip off its predecessor with any panache.