Catching up with Netflix

I have tons of British series just now in my Netflix queue, but sometimes my husband will go in and move something he wants to see to the top (the nerve!). This weekend we watched one of his selections, The Bank Job. Now, I must have been living under a rock, because I don't remember hearing anything about this film. So I asked him, "What's it about?" He started reading off the overview on the little sleeve the disk came in, and he said the two magic words: "London" and "Jason Statham" (well, technically, that's three words, but two concepts -- so I'll count it as two words). I was anxious to see any sightings of London, but the film was set in 1971, so aside from some shots of various underground stations (with the old style gray trains) and Paddington Station, there wasn't really much to show the film was actually set in London. I guess the city has changed so much since 1971 that there really wasn't anywhere to film that would be realistic.

The movie had a lot of plot twists that made it somewhat hard to follow. A high-profile black activist was arrested on some charge (I forget what now), but the government refused to prosecute him because he was holding some naughty photos showing a member of the royal family. The MI5 or 6 (or maybe both, it was difficult to tell -- and what's the dif, anyway?) hatched a plot to steal the photos from the bank safe deposit box where they were being held. A model attempting to enter the country with drugs was detained and given the opportunity to have her charges dropped if she could arrange the robbery of the bank vault. She gets together a gang of small-time criminals to rob the vault, but doesn't reveal the true motive (to get the royal nasties) behind the robbery to the gang of thieves.

So the gang successfully robs the vault and makes off with millions in jewels and cash. However, numerous bad guys and gals had stashed THEIR blackmailing materials in the safe deposit boxes as well, so those people immediately became involved in trying to track down the people responsible for the robbery.

So you have: the robbers after cash (so they think), various and sundry blackmailers wanting their documentation back, government agencies wanting the whole thing solved and swept under the rug, corrupt police trying to protect themselves from exposure, and honest police (greatly outnumbered) trying to solve the whole thing. It was very confusing as to who was after what and why, and there was a lot of beating and killing going on.

Well, on the bright side, Jason Statham did look as gorgeous as ever, and this was, I suppose, one of his "typical" roles. Fans of his will not be disappointed!

Final Verdict for The Bank Job: Two Gherkins, for London atmosphere (if not scenery) and Jason Statham!