"The Bank Job" is one of those movies that somehow winds up being far, far better than it has any right to be.
First off, it's a British gangster flick, a genre that suffered severe overkill after the success of Guy Ritchie's "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels" in 1998, and has been in steady decline ever since. (Latest example being Guy Ritchie himself with the misguided "Revolver.") Second, it's helmed by journeyman director Roger Donaldson, whose films have been all over the map, ranging from slick and shallow fare like "Species" and "Cocktail" to political drama like "13 Days," and headscratchers like "The World's Fastest Indian."
Then take a look at the cast: You've got stock hard man Jason Statham (who actually rose to prominence in "Two Smoking Barrels"), who's been bordering on self-parody lately in the "Transporter" and "Crank" action series. Opposite him is the lovely Saffron Burrows, the most stunning beauty in U.K. cinema who — like many stunning beauties — has found good roles hard to find. ("Troy," anyone?) Even the film's plot seems like a retread: Its milieu of hookers, politicians and blackmail was done quite well back in 1989 in "Scandal."