The Bank Job
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''The Bank Job'' is a 2008 heist
thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...
directed by
Roger Donaldson Roger Lindsey Donaldson (born 15 November 1945) is an Australian and New Zealand film director, screenwriter, and producer. His 1977 debut film, ''Sleeping Dogs (1977 film), Sleeping Dogs'', is considered landmark work of Cinema of New Zealand ...
and written by
Dick Clement Dick Clement (born 5 September 1937) is a retired English writer, director and producer. He became known for his writing partnership with Ian La Frenais for television series including ''The Likely Lads'', ''Whatever Happened to the Likely La ...
and Ian La Frenais. It is based on the 1971 burglary of
Lloyds Bank Lloyds Bank plc is a major British retail banking, retail and commercial bank with a significant presence across England and Wales. It has traditionally been regarded one of the "Big Four (banking)#England and Wales, Big Four" clearing house ...
safety deposit boxes in
Baker Street Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It is named after builder James Baker. The area was originally high class residential, but now is mainly occupied by commercial premises. The street is ...
. It stars Jason Statham. The producers allege that the story was prevented from being told in 1971 because of a
D-Notice In the United Kingdom, D-Notices, officially known since 2015 as DSMA-Notices (Defence and Security Media Advisory Notices), are official requests to news editors not to publish or broadcast items on specified subjects for reasons of national sec ...
, to protect a prominent member of the
British royal family The British royal family comprises Charles III and other members of his family. There is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member, although the Royal Household has issued different lists outlining who is considere ...
. According to the producers, this film is intended to reveal the truth for the first time, although it apparently includes significant elements of fiction. The premiere was held in London on 18 February 2008, and it was released in the UK on 29 February 2008 and in the US on 7 March 2008. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and grossed $66 million worldwide.


Plot

In 1971, British Security Services (
MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...
) have taken interest in a
safety deposit box A safe deposit box, sometimes referred to as a safety deposit box, is an individually secured container, usually held within a larger safe or bank vault. Safe deposit boxes are generally located in banks, post offices or other institutions. S ...
in a particular
Lloyds Bank Lloyds Bank plc is a major British retail banking, retail and commercial bank with a significant presence across England and Wales. It has traditionally been regarded one of the "Big Four (banking)#England and Wales, Big Four" clearing house ...
branch. Belonging to black militant gangster Michael X, it contains compromising photos of
Princess Margaret Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. She was the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth II. ...
, insurance to keep the British authorities off Michael's back. Martine Love, an ex-model romantically involved with MI5 agent Tim Everett, is caught smuggling drugs into the country, and to avoid going to jail, she makes a deal with the authorities to retrieve the photos. Martine approaches her friend Terry, a struggling car salesman with criminal contacts, and tells him that if he can assemble the gang to help her rob the bank, he will be richly rewarded, but does not tell him about the photos in the deposit box. Terry's team includes his close friends Eddie (one of his employees), Dave, and Kevin, as well as trusted criminal associates Bambas and Guy Singer. While scouting the bank, Dave runs into gangster Lew Vogel, for whom he made pornographic films. The gang rents a leather goods shop near the bank, tunnels below the vault, then uses a thermal lance to break through the floor into the vault. They loot the safety deposit boxes, but Terry notices Martine's interest in box 118 and discovers the photos. The police are alerted to the robbery by a ham radio operator who overhears the gang's walkie-talkie communications, but by the time they locate the bank, the gang has already fled. The robbery rattles important figures who used the bank, including Lew Vogel, who kept a ledger of police payoffs inside. He notifies Michael X in
Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...
, who deduces Gale Benson—the lover of his associate Hakim Jamal—is spying for MI5, and murders her. Vogel decides Dave’s presence outside that bank was not a coincidence, and has him kidnapped and tortured for information. Dave gives in, and Lew has Gerald Pyke and Nick Burton—two policemen working on his payroll—kidnap Eddie at Terry's garage. Meanwhile, Terry discovers explicit photographs of government officials among their loot and uses them to secure passports and new identities for the gang. Vogel's men track down and murder Bambas and Guy Singer. Eddie refuses to cooperate with Vogel, who has Gerald execute Dave and threatens to kill Eddie unless Terry surrenders the ledger; Terry agrees to meet up with Vogel at Paddington Station to exchange the ledger and Eddie. He arranges for the meeting to happen at the same time as he will be picking up the new passports and immunity from prosecution from MI5 and
Lord Mountbatten Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy), Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (born Prince Louis of Battenberg; 25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979), commonly known as Lord Mountbatten, was ...
in exchange for the pictures of Princess Margaret. Meanwhile, Terry sends Kevin to honest cop Roy Given with a page torn from the ledger. Spooked, Vogel tries to flee, but Terry attacks and beats him—only for he and Eddie to be arrested by the police. After speaking to Everett, Given has Terry, Eddie and Kevin released and uses the information they supplied to arrest Lew, Gerald and Nick. Michael X is arrested as well and after Benson's body is found, his house is burned down. The surviving gang gets together one last time to mourn Dave. Eddie inherits Terry's car dealership, while Kevin and Martine prepare to begin separate new lives with their respective shares of the money. Terry and his family leave England. Vogel's ledger causes Scotland Yard to undergo a major corruption purge in the police force. The activities of Sonia Bern's brothels make several senior officials resign. Michael X is hanged in 1975 for the murder of Gale Benson and his file in the British National Archive remains classified until 2054. Lew Vogel is sentenced to 8 years in prison. Hakim Jamal is murdered in 1973. The murders of both Bambas and Guy Singer are never solved. The loot taken from the robbery consists of £4 million.


Cast


Historical background

The film is in part based on historical facts about the
Baker Street robbery The Baker Street robbery was the burglary of safety deposit boxes at the Baker Street branch of Lloyds Bank in London, on the night of 11 September 1971. A gang tunnelled from a rented shop two doors away to come up through the floor of the va ...
. A gang tunnelled into a branch of
Lloyds Bank Lloyds Bank plc is a major British retail banking, retail and commercial bank with a significant presence across England and Wales. It has traditionally been regarded one of the "Big Four (banking)#England and Wales, Big Four" clearing house ...
at the junction of Baker Street and Marylebone Road in London on the night of 11 September 1971 and robbed the safety deposit boxes that were stored in the vault. The robbers had rented a leather goods shop named Le Sac two doors down from the bank, and tunnelled approximately 40 feet (12 metres), passing under the Chicken Inn restaurant that was located between the shop and the bank. The tunnelling took three weeks, working on weekends.
Ham radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency communi ...
operator Robert Rowlands 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." The film's producers said that they have a source, identified in press reports as George McIndoe, who was an executive producer. McIndoe claimed that he had talked with two of the gang, who even visited the film set.Byrnes, Paul (26 July 2008
"Review: The Bank Job"
''Sydney Morning Herald''
The film's plot includes a fictional issue of a D-Notice by MI5, requesting no further press reports on grounds of national security because of a safe deposit box holding sexually compromising pictures of
Princess Margaret Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. She was the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth II. ...
. The possible connection to Michael X is based on material from McIndoe, who said he had spoken to two men who claimed they were involved robbers. The ''
Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...
'' interviewed a convicted robber who claims to be a perpetrator, and he indicated that embarrassing photos were found but deliberately left behind for the police, including child pornography. The film-makers acknowledged that they made up the character Martine, and David Denby wrote in ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'' that it is "impossible to say how much of the film's story is true". The fictional character of Lew Vogel may allude to pornographer and racketeer Bernie Silver, a major figure in
Soho SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...
in the 1960s and early 1970s who was imprisoned in 1975 for the 1956 murder of Tommy "Scarface" Smithson, and also to later events surrounding his associate pornographer James Humphreys. ''
The Sunday People The ''Sunday People'' is a British tabloid Sunday newspaper. It was founded as ''The People'' on 16 October 1881. At one point owned by Odhams Press, The ''People'' was acquired along with Odhams by the Mirror Group in 1961, along with the ' ...
'' published photographs in 1972 of Commander Kenneth Drury, the head of the Metropolitan Police
Flying Squad The Flying Squad is a branch of the Serious and Organised Crime Command within London's Metropolitan Police Service. It is also known as the Robbery Squad, Specialist Crime Directorate 7, SC&O7 and SO7. It is nicknamed The Sweeney, an abbrevia ...
, spending a luxurious two-week holiday with Humphreys in Cyprus, and a police raid on Humphreys' house uncovered a diary cataloguing itemised payments to 17 police officers. Humphreys was imprisoned for eight years in 1974 for wounding his wife's former lover. He then turned Queen's Evidence, testifying against some of
Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's London boroughs, 32 boroughs. Its name derives from the location of the original ...
's most senior officers in two major corruption trials in 1977, for which he received a Royal Pardon and was released from prison. In 1994, Humphreys was imprisoned for 12 months for living off the earnings of prostitutes. The introduction of Michael X's character showing him leading a landlord locked in a slave collar is based on a historical incident. A passing glance at a photo of
John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...
found in Michael X's safety deposit box is inspired by Lennon's support for Michael X's "Black House" headquarters depicted in the film, and Lennon posting his bail.Bill Harry, ''The John Lennon Encyclopedia''.


Production

Part of the filming took place on location at the offices of Websters, 136 Baker Street, where the rooftops were used for lookout locations. The exterior scenes of the bank and adjacent shops were done at
Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to t ...
on a specially constructed set of Baker Street, to retain an authentic feel of the period and to allow for greater control. This partial set was extended using visual effects. The production also shot on location inside the Aldwych Underground station, and at
Paddington station Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a London station group, London railway station and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services provided by ...
. The crew used
Chatham Historic Dockyard The Historic Dockyard Chatham is a maritime museum on part of the site of the former Royal Navy Dockyard, royal/naval dockyard at Chatham, Medway, Chatham in Kent, South East England. Chatham Dockyard covered 400 acres (1.6 km2) and was o ...
to shoot the sequence at the side entrance of Paddington, where the final showdown between Terry and Lew Vogel takes place.


Reception


Critical response

The review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
reports that 79% of 144 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Well cast and crisply directed, ''The Bank Job'' is a thoroughly entertaining British heist thriller."
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
reports the film has a weighted average score of 69 out of 100 based on 32 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by
CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...
graded the film an average "B+" on an A+ to F scale.


Box office

''The Bank Job'' grossed $30.1 million in the United States and Canada, as well as $36.1 million in other territories (including $8.1 million in the UK), for a worldwide total of $66.1 million. The film opened at No. 4 in North America and grossed US$5.9 million in 1,603 cinemas in its opening weekend.


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bank Job, The 2008 films 2008 crime thriller films 2000s heist films British crime thriller films British heist films British docudrama films Films about bank robbery Films set in 1971 Films set in London Films set in Trinidad and Tobago Atlas Entertainment films Lionsgate films Paramount Pictures films Relativity Media films Films directed by Roger Donaldson Films produced by Charles Roven Films scored by J. Peter Robinson Films with screenplays by Dick Clement Films with screenplays by Ian La Frenais 2000s English-language films 2000s British films English-language crime thriller films