The Bank Job - Review

Jason Statham has had his fair share of rock'em sock'em British capers since his film carrier has begun. Namely with Guy Ritchie's trilogy of witty, crass explorations of the crime underworld of Britain (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, and soon to be released in the US: Revolver). This was accompanied by The Italian Job and a coming sequal, The Brazilian Job. So, Statham looked and sounded right at home in Roger Donaldson's telling of the infamous robbery of the Lloyds Bank on Baker Street in 1971. The film is suave and sexy, introducing the viewer to an entire ensemble of loathsome characters from Lew Vogal, the porn king of Soho to Michael X, a drug-dealing, pimping, extortionist, would-be revolutionary. The film follows closely on the heels of Ritchie and Matthew Vaughn(Layer Cake) but this feature has something that none of it's predecessors contained to my knowledge: a foundtation of truth.
Because of this, the film's pace and dialogue are not consistent because, well, there are casualties in the real world. But the film glazes over these predicaments with royal finesse, leaving a seedy, fast-paced and ultimately engaging film.