Tagline: The true story of a heist gone wrong… in all the right ways.
The Bank Job movie storyline. A car dealer with a dodgy past and new family, Terry (Statham) has always avoided major-league scams. But when Martine (Burrows), a beautiful model from his old neighborhood, offers him a lead on a foolproof bank hit on London’s Baker Street, Terry recognizes the opportunity of a lifetime.
Martine targets a roomful of safe deposit boxes worth millions in cash and jewelry. But Terry and his crew don’t realize the boxes also contain a treasure trove of dirty secrets – secrets that will thrust them into a deadly web of corruption and illicit scandal that spans London’s criminal underworld, the highest echelons of the British government, and the Royal Family itself… the true story of a heist gone wrong… in all the right ways.
“The Bank Job” was inspired by a real-life 1971 London bank robbery that was never solved. A band of thieves tunneled their way into a safe deposit vault, taking millions of dollars in cash and jewelry. The robbery made headlines for several days, but then all reporting stopped as a result of a government gag order. In “Bank Job,” the crime involves murder, corruption and a sex scandal with links to the royal family. Ultimately, the thieves are among the most innocent involved.
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.[3][4] According to the producers, this film is intended to reveal the truth for the first time, although it includes significant elements of fiction.
About The Production
In 1971, Britain was experiencing a hangover. Following the indulgences of Swinging-era London and the decline of Flower Power, Londoners were unceremoniously faced with a series of labor conflicts under Edward Heath’s Conservative Government and escalating violence in Northern Ireland. It seemed only logical that the transition into the “Me Decade,” as Thomas Wolfe put it, would be marked by a group of enterprising bank robbers involved in Britain’s biggest robbery ever.
“This is a fascinating period in history and an even more fascinating crime,” says director Roger Donaldson. “The fact that it all actually happened only makes it more intriguing.”
Dubbed the “Walkie-Talkie Robbery” by newspapers, the crime was discovered by an amateur radio “ham”, Robert Rowlands, who alerted Scotland Yard after overhearing a robbery in progress somewhere within a 10-mile radius of Central London. Seven hundred and fifty banks in the inner London area were checked that weekend, but there were no signs of forced entry anywhere. It was only when Lloyd’s Bank, on the corner of Baker Street and Marylebone Road, opened for business on Monday that hundreds of safety deposit boxes in the main vault were found to have been looted.
The robbery left countless questions unanswered. After only four days of reportage by newspapers, the story disappeared entirely, the result of an alleged ‘D Notice’ issued by the government. Only four men were convicted in connection with the crime and much of the loot was never recovered. Of the stolen property that the police did manage to retrieve, most was never reclaimed – a testament to just how many incriminating secrets are buried in the vaults of banks.
In the years since, the “Walkie-Talkie Robbery” has lived on as a contemporary urban legend. Says producer Steven Chasman, “Often, in London, when I’m in a taxi or speaking to someone who was around at the time, they remember the Walkie-Talkie Robbery and what happened. They knew someone, who knew someone, who knew someone who was involved.”
“The story went off the front pages very quickly,” says THE BANK JOB’S co-screenwriter Dick Clement. “It was there for a couple of days and then nothing. Obviously, we had no idea about any of the hidden agenda that’s in the movie, because so many aspects of it have never come to light before.”
“I’ve liked that this is an old-fashioned robbery,” adds co-screenwriter Ian La Frenais. “Instead of people breaking in using computers to hack into security systems, there are picks and shovels, digging under the ground, blasting through the bank and tearing those boxes apart with crowbars.”
When director Roger Donaldson was sent the script of THE BANK JOB by producer Charles Roven, he was immediately interested in the story’s real-life basis. “I was attracted to the fact that it’s inspired by real people and real events,” says the Australian-born director. “I enjoy taking a look at what makes society tick.”
Donaldson’s interest in the political and cultural details of the period resulted in an in-depth research period. “I love the research. That’s one of the things I really do embroil myself in,” he admits. “I finished up going to the newspapers of the time, to the national archives, digging up facts that have not seen the light of day since they happened in 1971.”
Producer Charles Roven, who produced Donaldson’s 1990 film, CADILLAC MAN, believes Donaldson is the ideal director for the project. “He’s done thrillers like NO WAY OUT, character pieces like THE WORLD’S FASTEST INDIAN, and action movies like THE RECRUIT, and this is the kind of movie that allows you to blend all those techniques. It’s very suspenseful. It’s got a tremendous amount of real-life comedy and the characters are really interesting. There’s a part of us in all of them.”
For the lead role of Terry Leather, the used car dealer-turned-bank-robber, Donaldson turned to Jason Statham, the British star known for the hits THE TRANSPORTER and CRANK. Upon reading THE BANK JOB, Statham embraced the opportunity to step aside from the high-powered action roles for which he’s famous. “This, thankfully, hasn’t been one that’s tested me too much in the stunt department,” says the actor. “I’ve replaced holding a gun with holding a pint of ale. I’m not hanging out of helicopters and doing a lot of the silliness I’ve been paid to do in the past. This is more of a sophisticated thriller. I’m sure it’s going to be a great crowd pleaser.”
“Jason’s like a British Steve McQueen,” avows Donaldson. “There’s a really great, brooding sort of quality about him. He does a lot with a little, and he’s very charismatic. He’s not like anyone else that I know of on screen.”
“The part of Terry really shows Jason’s great range as an actor,” adds Roven. “It allows him to do it all, from being the tough guy to struggling with romantic conflict. He’s also incredibly likable. He has such a great persona on screen that the audience automatically gravitates to him.”
Complicating Terry’s life is an alluring old friend, Martine, who embroils him in both the bank job and a difficult romantic triangle. Like Martine, actress Saffron Burrows is a former model who left the world of fashion to pursue a new career. “Martine Love is, in a sense, like me in many ways,” says Burrows. “She and Terry have this history together, which I like in the way that it’s quite undefined and the writers haven’t chosen to nail down entirely what their history is.”
“Saffron is beautiful and a great actress as well,” declares Roger Donaldson. “She has this wonderful combination of great looks, depth, and effortless poise.”
Rising stage and screen star Stephen Campbell Moore is Kevin, Terry’s best friend and an aspiring photographer. “He’s part of Terry’s gang and basically, when Terry asks him to come along on this job, he does what Terry says,” explains the actor. “Kevin has always been in love with Martine. He thinks that he and Martine have a ‘thing’ still, but the truth is that it was one drunken night many years ago and she’s moved on.”
Dave Shilling, the likeable, part-time porno star, is played by Daniel Mays. “Dave is basically one of Terry Leather’s crew,” says Mays. “He’s also a stand-in for movie stars on film sets, and he thinks he’s quite fashionable, a boy about town, but he gets in way over his head.”
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The Bank Job (2008)
Directed by: Roger Donaldson
Starring: Jason Statham, Saffron Burrows, Stephen Campbell Moore, Daniel Mays, James Faulkner, Alki David, Michael Jibson, Richard Lintern, Don Gallagher
Screenplay by: Dick Clement
Production Design by: Gavin Bocquet
Cinematography by: Michael Coulter
Film Editing by: John Gilbert
Costume Design by: Odile Dicks – Mireaux
Music by: J. Peter Robinson
MPAA Rating: R for for sexual content, nudity, violence, language.
Studio: Lionsgate Films
Release Date: March 7, 2008
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