The Bank Job

Terry (Statham) thinks his ex-lover Martine (Burrows) has recruited him to assemble a crew including his number two guy, porn king Kevin (Campbell Moore), for a straightforward cash heist. They end up involved in one of the greatest bank robberies in British history: the 1971 tunneled break in at the Baker Street branch of Lloyd's. The real-life investigation produced no arrests and recovered no loot, thus allowing writers Clement and La Frenais to construct an elaborate albeit fictionalized account that ties the crime to a conspiracy to retrieve sexually-compromising photos of a British royal from the safe deposit box of a black power operative (De Jersey). A near-perfect period heist-caper film that extracts terrific effect from the fashion and technology of the 70's. Particularly humorous are the giant walkie-talkies alleged to have played a role in the crime.