Rated R for sexual content, nudity, violence and language.
Directed by Roger Donaldson (No Way Out, The Recruit and Dante's Peak)
Starring Jason Statham, Saffron Burrows, Stephen Campbell Moore, Daniel Mays, James Faulkner, Alki David, Michael Jibson, Richard Lintern, Don Gallagher, and David Suchet
“The true story of a heist gone wrong…in all the right ways”… and shown all the wrong ways.
The Bank Job is inspired by the infamous 1971 robbery that took place at the Lloyds Bank in Marylebone London. Jason Statham plays Terry, a used car dealer with a shady past and new family. When Martine (Burrows), a beautiful model from his old neighborhood offers him to lead a foolproof bank hit, Terry sees it as a once in a lifetime opportunity. Martine’s target is a room full of safe deposit boxes worth millions in cash and jewelry. What Terry and the crew don't realize is that the boxes also contain some of the dirtiest secrets of London’s most powerful people. It is the true story of a heist gone wrong…in all the right ways.
Ok here’s the deal: the cast and story are both great. I loved Statham in The Transporter movies and he is pretty much the same character. A regular guy who makes some bad decisions, gets into trouble, gets out of trouble and from time to time we actually see a softer side of him, as misguided as he may be. The story is solid. Try to imagine every dirty secret exposed to the world…now multiply that by an entire city. The Bible tells us, “Your sin will find you out”, and this film is all about sins being revealed. Unfortunately the director chose to show us all those sins…in details…over and over.
I honestly kept thinking if they had just used the “Law and Order” approach this would be an incredible movie. By that I mean more talking about the “crime” and a lot less showing.
The Bank Job is a very interesting story of corruption, power and trying to hide sins, but there is just no way I could enjoy it or recommend it.
SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
No way, the gratuitous sexual content, nudity, violence and language make it inappropriate for just about everybody.
Side Note:
As said above, we recommend you skip this film. But on the occasion that your teen actually has already seen it, you may want to dialogue about the film with them. These questions below may be a help to you.
Conversation Starter
Three Simple Questions (with Answers You May Be Looking for):
- What are some of the messages or themes you observed in this movie?
- How do you suppose we—as serious Christ-followers—should react to this movie?
- How can we move from healthy, Bible-based opinions about this movie to actually living out those opinions?
