The Bank Job (2008)
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A group of criminals is recruited by security services to stage a bank robbery to retrieve compromising photos of a member of the royal family.
The story
In 1971, British Security Services (MI5) seek a safety deposit box in a Lloyds Bank branch belonging to militant gangster Michael X, which contains compromising photos of Princess Margaret. To avoid jail, an ex-model named Martine strikes a deal with an MI5 agent to retrieve the photos. MI5 decides to stage the retrieval as a robbery. Martine recruits her ex-boyfriend, Terry Leather, a struggling car salesman, to lead a gang of criminals. While scouting the bank, the team discovers the complexity of the job, and they begin preparations to tunnel into the vault to loot the safety deposit boxes.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 1971, MI5 seeks to retrieve compromising photos of Princess Margaret from a Lloyds Bank safety deposit box held by militant gangster Michael X. Martine, an ex-model, agrees to help MI5 in exchange for leniency on drug smuggling charges. She recruits her ex-boyfriend Terry Leather, a married car salesman, to lead a gang of criminals to stage a robbery. The gang tunnels into the bank from a nearby shop. During the heist, they loot the boxes but Terry discovers the photos and realizes Martine lied about the primary objective. Meanwhile, a ham radio operator alerts the police. The robbery also exposes a ledger of police payoffs and bribes held by a gangster named Lew Vogel. Vogel kidnaps and tortures a gang member, Dave, for information. Terry eventually uses the photos of government officials in brothels to secure new identities for his gang from MI5. After a final showdown at Paddington Station where Terry attacks Vogel, Terry and his associates are released by MI5. Vogel and his corrupt accomplices are arrested. Michael X is eventually hanged in 1975. The surviving gang members mourn Dave, and Terry chooses to stay with his wife and children, leaving the money with Eddie.
- First release year
- 2008
- Runtime (minutes)
- 112
- Production countries
- United States; United Kingdom; Australia
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Roger Donaldson
- Writers
- Dick Clement · writer; Ian La Frenais · writer
- Cast and characters
- Jason Statham; Saffron Burrows · Martine Love; David Suchet · Lew Vogel; Peter de Jersey · Michael X; Mark Phoenix · Mr. Brown; Alan Swofford · John Lennon
- Genres
- heist thriller; docudrama; crime thriller
- Themes
- Corruption; Betrayal; Espionage
- Tone and mood
- Tense; Historical
- Premise and plot tags
- Heist; Crime; Historical Fiction; Spy Thriller
- Source material / true-story basis
- The 1971 burglary of Lloyds Bank safety deposit boxes in Baker Street
- Reception
- The film received mostly positive reviews from critics and grossed $66 million worldwide.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 79% · review count: 144; Metacritic · score: 69 · scale: 100 · review count: 32; CinemaScore · score: B+ · scale: A+ to F
- Production trivia
- The film includes lines recorded by ham radio operator Robert Rowlands.; The producers allege the story was prevented from being told in 1971 because of a D-Notice to protect Princess Margaret.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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