The Bank Job
| The Bank Job | |
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Promotional film poster
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| Directed by | Roger Donaldson |
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| Written by | |
| Starring | |
| Music by | J. Peter Robinson |
| Cinematography | Michael Coulter |
| Edited by | John Gilbert |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Lionsgate |
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Release date
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Running time
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112 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | US $20 million |
| Box office | US $64.8 million |
The Bank Job is a 2008 British heist-thriller film written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, directed by Roger Donaldson, and starring Jason Statham, based on the 1971 Baker Street robbery in central London, from which the money and valuables stolen were never recovered. The producers allege that the story was prevented from being told in 1971 because of a D-Notice government gagging request, allegedly to protect a prominent member of the British Royal Family. According to the producers, this film is intended to reveal the truth for the first time, although it includes significant elements of fiction.
The premiere was held in London on 18 February 2008, and the film was released in both the UK on 29 February 2008, and in the US on 7 March 2008. It was a critical and financial success.
The British Security Services (MI5) have taken interest in a safe deposit box that is located in a bank on London’s Baker Street. It belongs to a black militant gangster, Michael X (Peter de Jersey), and contains compromising photos of Princess Margaret, which he is keeping as insurance to keep the British authorities off his back. Martine (Saffron Burrows), an ex-model who is romantically involved with an MI5 agent, is caught smuggling drugs into the country, and to avoid going to jail she makes a deal with the authorities in which she agrees to retrieve the photos.
Martine approaches her friend Terry (Jason Statham), a struggling car salesman with criminal contacts, and tells him if he can assemble the gang to help her rob the bank he will be richly rewarded, though she does not tell him about the photos in the deposit box. Terry recruits a small team, including one of his own workers, Eddie (Michael Jibson), to serve as the look-out, and Dave (Daniel Mays), a porn actor who once made films for Lew Vogel (David Suchet), a gangster whom Dave happens to run into outside the bank before the robbery. Lew Vogel was modeled after underworld figure Bernie Silver.
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