Reviews by Matt

Wow. What a weekend. Nothing like a ton of snow to make you change your plans.

As you all know this past weekend was typical of Buffalo winters.

Snow, snow and more snow.

As is my obligation, in order to fill these pages, I had to see a movie. The plan was to see “10,000 B.C.” It has been a very long time since I have ripped a movie apart and believe me that is more fun then praising a movie. Then we got hit with feet upon feet of snow and plans had to change.

Why venture out into the cold and see a bad movie? That left one option in terms of new movies.

“The Bank Job” is about a robbery that took place in the 1970s. The details of just how it happened are sketchy because the
British government has kept the file classified for many years. There were no arrests made and none of the money that was stolen was ever recovered. The government covered it up because one of the safety deposit boxes contained pictures of one of the members of the royal family in a compromising position.

Terry (Jason Statham) owns a car dealership and owes money to some shady people. Martine (Saffron Burrows), and old friend, shows up one day with a proposition for him: rob a bank before the security system is changed. Terry agrees and assembles a group of his friends to help.

Once they get in and get the loot, things turn ugly. They find themselves perused by MI-5 (British secret service), the porn king of London and the cops who stumbled upon the walkie-talkie transmission.

Here is the thing; Jason Statham is a good actor. He just picks bad roles some of the time. Looking at movies like “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,” “The Italian Job” and even “The Transporter,” Statham does a great job. This is one of those gems in an otherwise mess of a movie resume.

His past few roles in “War,” “In the Name of the King” and “Crank” (which I liked by the way) have been very similar in terms of his character. This movie shows another and much better side of a very underrated actor. Terry is a guy who takes the lead in a situation where he has no more experience than anyone else.

The bank robbery was the easy part; it is the events that transpire afterward where he has to keep the others under control. He has no idea what he is doing and is making up everything as he goes along.

In many of the recent heist movies, the thieves always have a plan and it is flawless and they succeed based on their planning, here these guys get lucky. It was a nice change of pace to see bumbling thieves get by on pure luck.

Other then the amateur aspect, it is a usual heist movie. There really is nothing that makes it fresh or new.

There was a spot where it slowed and I checked the time to figure out when the movie was over. I really just wanted to find out how it was going to end. Other then this minor annoyance, I thought it was a good movie.

“The Bank Job” is not going to break any new ground in the heist genre. It is not going to make hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office. It is middle of the pack at best in terms other heist movies, but it sure beat my original plan.

8 out of 10
Rated R for
1 hr and 50 min