The Bank Job

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The Bank Job

Promotional movie poster
Directed by Roger Donaldson
Produced by David Alper
Written by Dick Clement
Ian La Frenais
George McIndoe
Aaron Shuster
Starring Jason Statham
Saffron Burrows
Music by J. Peter Robinson
Cinematography Michael Coulter
Editing by John Gilbert
Distributed by Lions Gate Entertainment[1]
Release date(s) 29 February 2008
Running time 111.5 minutes[2]
Country UK
Language English
Gross revenue $44,111,064 (worldwide)
Official website
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

The Bank Job is a British 2008 crime film based on a 1971 true-life robbery of a bank in Baker Street, London, from which the money and valuables stolen were never recovered. The story was prevented from being told because of a D-Notice government gagging request, allegedly to protect a prominent member of the British Royal Family.[3][4] According to the producers, this movie is intended to reveal the truth for the first time,[5] although it includes significant elements of fiction and the extent to which it represents historical fact is difficult to determine.

It also may be based upon the scandal causing Lord Lambton's resignation, with Lew Vogel representing the Soho porn baron Bernie Silver.

The premiere was held in London on 18 February 2008, and the film was released in the UK on 28 February 2008.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Petty-criminal-gone-straight Terry Leathers (Jason Statham) owns a failing car-sales garage being harassed by two debt-collectors. His old girlfriend Martine (Saffron Burrows) offers Terry a chance to earn enough money to never worry about debt again: a bank robbery in Baker Street, London. Terry gathers a bunch of petty-criminal friends to help execute the plan. They lease a shop two lots away from the bank and start digging a tunnel underneath the middle shop (a chicken fast-food restaurant) in order to reach the underground bank vault. Terry employs a "watchman" with a walkie-talkie to sit on the roof of the building opposite and keep a look out for trouble.

What they don't know is that Martine, who has been caught smuggling heroin into Britain and desperately wants to avoid jail, is setting them up on behalf of MI5, which wants the contents of a certain safe deposit box within the bank. This safe deposit box contains compromising photos of a female member of the British Royal Family (identified in the film as Princess Margaret). The photos are in a box belonging to a black militant who calls himself Michael X; he is using the photos to avoid trouble with the Metropolitan Police, and MI5 is desperate to keep the photos out of circulation.

As Terry and his crew dig, their radio chatter draws the attention of a local amateur radio operator, who listens in on the conversation and realises he's overhearing a bank robbery in progress. He calls the police, but with a 10 mile radius to search and a lack of concrete details, they fail to pin the robbery down.

After they have broken in and begin looting the vault, Martine goes for the deposit-box with the photos. A suspicious Terry opens the box with her and, upon seeing the pictures, knows that Martine has a hidden agenda. In addition to those photos, further photos of a number of high-ranking government officials are found, at the top a senior MP in compromising positions in a local S&M brothel. The robbers pocket these with the money and other valuables. Terry arranges for alternate transportation to throw off MI5, allowing them to escape.

Two of the six robbers leave with their share of the spoils. When Terry confronts Martine over the photos, she explains their predicament. Meanwhile, the robbery is discovered, and the police — both corrupt ones receiving payoffs and honest ones — start their investigation. MI5 is likewise searching. Lew Vogel (David Suchet), a local club owner, is worried about the contents of his ledger, which lists every payoff he's made to the police, which was stolen during the robbery. He also phones Michael X to inform him that his box containing the royal 'portraits' has gone missing. Michael X starts to get suspicious of a female British spy, who has befriended his brother and gone with the family to Trinidad and Tobago.

The club owner manages to find one of the robbers, and tortures him for information. When he eventually tells Vogel everything, Vogel goes to the garage where Terry worked and kidnaps a mechanic, who was the lookout during the robbery, taking him to the same secret location and tying him down. At the same time, the senior MP is shown the photos of himself in the brothel, and agrees to try and help to absolve the robbers of all wrongdoing and give them safe passage out of the country. Meanwhile, MI5 issues a D-Notice forbidding the press from reporting on the heist any longer. Police simultaneously release recordings from the walkie-talkie conversations, in the hope that someone will recognize the voices. These recordings are heard on the radio by Terry's family.

The club owner goes on to shoot one of the robbers dead, around the same time as Michael X murders the British spy. MI5 makes an agreement with Terry, and agree to meet him at Paddington Station in London. Terry gives the same instruction to the officer in charge of the investigation, citing knowledge of corrupt officers under his control. He also convinces the club owner to go to Paddington Station at the same time, offering him the book with details of corrupt officers in return for the safe return of his mechanic. This results in a large meeting of all of the involved parties at the same time.

Terry stands on the platform waiting for the others, while Martine meets up with her original contact within MI5 on a bridge overlooking the scene. The club owner and his corrupt police accomplices arrive with the mechanic, but recognize MI5 agents present and run. At the same time, the head of MI5 arrives (with Lord Mountbatten), handing over the documentation and passports that Terry bargained for, in return for the photos of the princess. Terry then chases the fleeing club owner and his aides. He starts to attack the club owner, and then fights with one of the aides, knocking them both out. The second aide appears with a gun, but Terry manages to avoid the shots and knock him out with a brick hastily dislodged from a wall.

The police officer in charge of the investigation then arrives, and sees the robbers being arrested. He speaks with the MI5 officers present, who direct police to let the robbers go. When the officer approaches the car where Terry is being held to ask for the bribe payout ledger, Terry agrees to hand it over in exchange of freedom. Terry and the other robbers are then released, the policeman saying "I don't see any bank-robbers in here" upon looking in the car in which the robbers are sitting. The club owner and the corrupt officers are arrested, and the militant is arrested in Trinidad and Tobago. His house is then burnt down after orders from Tim Everett.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Production

The film is in part based on historical facts. A gang tunnelled into a branch of Lloyds Bank at the intersection of Baker Street and Marylebone Road, in London, on the night of 11 September 1971 and robbed the safe deposit boxes there. The robbers had rented a leather goods shop named Le Sac, two doors down from the bank, and tunnelled a distance of approximately 40 feet (12 metres), passing under the intervening Chicken Inn restaurant.[4] Robert Rowlands, a radio ham operator, overheard conversations between the robbers and their rooftop lookout. He contacted police and tape recorded the conversations, which were subsequently made public. The film includes lines recorded by Rowlands, such as the lookout's comment that "Money may be your god, but it's not mine, and I'm fucking off."[6] After four days of news coverage, British authorities issued a D-Notice, requesting that news coverage be discontinued for reasons of national security, and the story disappeared from newspapers. The purpose for the D-Notice was never disclosed, and its existence was not confirmed until recently.[4]

The film's producers claim that they have an inside source, identified in press reports as George McIndoe, who served as an executive producer.[7] The film's claims that the issuance of the D-Notice was because a safe deposit box held sex pictures of Princess Margaret, and the possible connection to Michael X (whose governmental file purportedly is secret until 2054), are apparently based on information provided by McIndoe, though it is not clear what is the basis of his information or how specific it is supposed to be. The film makers apparently have acknowledged that they made up the character Martine, and The New Yorker's conclusion was that it is "impossible to say how much of the film's story is true" appears to be correct.[8]

[edit] Reception

Critics gave the film good reviews. As of 12 April 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 78% of the T-Meter critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 122 reviews.[9] Rotten Tomatoes also reports that 90% of the "top critics" gave the film positive reviews based on 29 reviews. Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 69 out of 100, based on 32 reviews.[10] The movie received an average score of 67.2% from 43 film critics according to Movie Tab. [11]

[edit] Errors

Caribbean patrons were surprised that Michael X was incorrectly portrayed with a strong Jamaican accent, inconsistent with his Trinidadian nationality.[citation needed]

A small but grating error is that the two tone police sirens as heard on the film have a distinct gallic note, and are not the familiar two tone siren used by the Metropolitan Police in the 70's and 80's.[citation needed]

[edit] Box office performance

The film has grossed $30,060,660 in the United States and Canada, and $14,050,404 in other territories for a total worldwide gross of $44,111,064.[12]

The film opened at #4 in North America and grossed $5,935,256 in 1,603 theaters, averaging to about $3,703 per theater.[13]

[edit] Soundtrack

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Bank Job, Pinewood Studios, Accessed 9 January 2008
  2. ^ The Bank Job as submitted to the BBFC, 5 December 2007, Accessed 9 January 2008
  3. ^ Untold story of Baker Street bank robbery. The Guardian (March 11, 2007).
  4. ^ a b c Bank job that opened the door on a royal sex scandal. Daily Mirror (February 16, 2008).
  5. ^ Production Information, Lionsgate UK website, Accessed 9 January 2008
  6. ^ Hoyle, Antonia. "FOUND: Radio Ham's sensational tape of the bank heist 'that rescued compromising pictures of Princess Margaret'", Daily Mail, 2008-02-16. Retrieved on 2008-03-17. 
  7. ^ Lawrence, Will. "Revisiting the riddle of Baker Street", The Daily Telegraph, 2008-02-15. Retrieved on 2008-03-17. 
  8. ^ Denby, David. "Class Acts: "The Bank Job" and "The Duchess of Langeais"", The New Yorker, 2008-03-10. Retrieved on 2008-03-17. 
  9. ^ The Bank Job - Movie Reviews, Trailers, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2008-03-07.
  10. ^ Bank Job, The (2008): Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2008-03-07.
  11. ^ The Bank Job Reviews - Movie Tab. Retrieved on 2008-05-24.
  12. ^ The Bank Job (2008). Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 2008-06-11.
  13. ^ The Bank Job (2008) - Weekend Box Office Results. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 2008-03-10.

[edit] External links

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