The most entertaining film so far in 2008 is a fact-based British heist picture starring “Transporter’s” hot baldy, Jason Statham.
Fast-moving, intricately plotted and scrumptiously scandalous, “The Bank Job” recounts how a crew of sympathetic, semiamateur East End crooks in the early 1970s stumble into a lethal scheme worth millions in pounds that implicates the queen’s then-randy sister Princess Margaret in a multiracial menage a trois.
Yes, it’s got violence, money, politics, AND sex! Plus, there’s a wide-ranging collection of vivid English personalities — played by a cast of ripping good actors not widely known on these shores — who dwell everywhere from the highest levels of Her Majesty’s Secret Service to the sleazy underworld of London’s strip clubs. It may not be the most weighty picture we’ll see this year. But vet director Roger Donaldson (“No Way Out”) and writers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais (“Across the Universe”) serve up an old-school caper thriller with smarts and flavor.
Statham’s once-shady protagonist, Terry, is trying to make an honest living with a mob-funded used car business for the sake of his young family. Owing money to the nasty thugs, though, Terry is soon tempted by a sultry beauty he grew up with, Martine (Saffron Burrows). She presents him with some inside information to a bank job that could make him a killing.
Before you can say, “Blimey, mate, beware that femme fatale! It’s a set-up!” Terry is assembling a crew of minor-league rogues to help him dig a tunnel under a Lloyds Bank branch to pilfer the goods from its rich safety deposit box vault.
Unknown to Terry and his boys, Martine is embroiled as a pawn in a big fat royal blackmail scheme and the safety deposit boxes are — coincidentally — a favorite repository for London’s worst element. Proof of rampant police corruption and the kinky fetishes of the nation’s posh elite lay waiting amid the jewels and cash there. So, the suspense isn’t just about whether or not the gang can get away with the haul from the complex theft. But also, what Pandora’s box from hell will they open when they do secure the ill-gotten gains?
The excitement of the stealthy antics is heightened by the fact that these events actually happened and through the performances of the colorful ensemble, which also includes Stephen Campbell Moore (“The History Boys”) and Masterpiece Theater regular David Suchet.
The charismatic star Statham is at his intense best when he finds himself in more than “a spot of bother” in the escalating third act. The fun comes from rooting for his savvy working-class hero as he attempts to get the better of smarmy Lords of the Realm, killer coppers and radical chic exploiters from the Me Decade. It’s a “Job” worth taking.
‘The Bank Job’
****
» Starring: Jason Statham,
Saffron Burrows
» Director: Roger Donaldson
» Rated R for sexual content, nudity, violence and language
» Running time: 110 minutes
