Dir. Roger Donaldson
Writ. Dick Clement, Ian LaFrenais
Act. Jason Statham, Saffron Burrows

Director Roger Donaldson directs some of the more entertaining movies for me and The Bank Job is not an exception to the rule. As much as I enjoyed the film, the casting choices left something to be desired but overall it was a fun film that can kill a spring evening with the best of films.

Terry, played by Jason Statham (War,) is a low level thief who is convinced by an old friend, Martine, played by Saffron Burrows (Deep Blue Sea) to pull off the perfect bank robbery. The loot is the safety deposit boxes in the basement of the bank. The problem for Terry and his gang is that the loot stolen from the deposit boxes is just not money but secrets that many people are willing to kill to keep quiet.

For an action movie there is not a whole lot of action. Despite that the movie moves along quite well and at no time did I think it was slow or boring. It was also quite humorous in parts especially with the dialogue back and forth between the gang.

The casting was questionable for me just because the actors and actress the producers chose left a little to be desired. I have always thought that Saffron Burrows was a beautiful woman but I don't think she could act her way out of a hat. In the only other movie I have seen with her in it, Deep Blue Sea, even the CGI sharks had a better personality and performed better than she did in that film. I enjoy Jason Statham as an action guy, however, his voice is the same in every movie. It's almost a whisper that Stephen Segal would be proud of, not to say they are the same because Statham is much better but still, his voice is the same in every movie. Change it up at least once!

Another thing I did not like was the deaths of two of the smaller characters that helped in the robbery. All though I was saddened to see them go, there deaths didn't add anything to the story so their deaths seemed kind of pointless. Since this story is based on true events, I would assume that the deaths actually did occur, but this would have been the time to take liberty with the story and keep them alive. It would have been more enjoyable.

Lastly, I don't by that Terry's wife stayed with him after she found out he fooled around with Martine. Since this was the 60's and the woman's empowerment was starting at this time, I would of imagined that between the adultery and the bank robbing thing, she would of left him. But what do I know.

Anyway, for one of the first films that I saw in 2008, it was not horrible, but very mediocre. You can wait for DVD.

Brian - the Naked Gun