The Bank Job (15)

Jason Statham shows there’s more to him than frowning and fighting in this smart, enjoyably old-fashioned thriller from Porridge scribes Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. They riff on a real robbery carried out on Baker Street (just round the corner from Total Film’s offices) in 1971, as a bunch of likeable lags do-over Lloyds only to get embroiled in a spot of spy skulduggery (detailed on the tidy featurettes). Statham is as charismatic as ever, while a cast of know-the-face British actors flesh out the story with skill (Daniel Mays is particularly impressive). There’s not much emotional resonance to The Bank Job, but a segue from caper to catastrophe is handled surprisingly well and the film serves as an admirable throwback to the sort of genre pieces Brit cinema once did so well – from The League Of Gentlemen to Get Carter. Shame it took an American producer (Chuck Roven) and Aussie director (Roger Donaldson) to make it happen.

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