‘The Bank Job’

It's not just a job, it's an adventure.

At least that's what a good heist movie ought to be. And "The Bank Job" overcomes its generic title to prove exactly that.

Unlike some cinematic capers that focus on the job, the whole job and nothing but the job, "The Bank Job" benefits from a wider perspective.

Perhaps that's because the particular job in question -- an actual 1971 robbery of a bank branch in the upscale London neighborhood of Marylebone -- netted the thieves a record haul worth about ?5 million (about $10 million) in 2008 terms.

Or perhaps it's because money isn't all the thieves got away with.

As "The Bank Job" illustrates, the entire heist turned out to be an elaborate cover, engineered by British government agents, to "disappear" incriminating photos featuring a member of the royal family.

Also caught up in the action: a London porn king, the proprietor of an exclusive brothel catering to members of Parliament who enjoyed relaxing with whips and chains (wielded by naked women) and a shady, self-styled black-power activist whose other identities included drug dealer, pimp and slumlord.

It's a tangled web indeed that "The Bank Job" weaves, but to its credit, the movie manages to keep multiple plot threads tangle-free -- and multiple colorful characters orbiting each other.

At least until the big bang, when their various worlds collide, setting "The Bank Job's" suspenseful -- and supremely ironic -- climax in motion.

Not being familiar with the "Walkie-Talkie Robbery," as the British press dubbed it at the time, I have no idea if "The Bank Job" accurately depicts what actually happened.

But I certainly can attest to its entertainment value as a smart, mostly taut thriller spiked with sly comedy and a host of memorably out-there individuals.

The idea of the caper takes shape when ex-model Martine Love ("Boston Legal's" sultry Saffron Burrows), returning from a trip to Morocco, is busted on a drug charge -- and turns to her married lover (British TV stalwart Richard Lintern) for assistance.

After all, he's an intelligence agent and ought to have some clout. Which he does -- but there's the inevitable catch. Namely, salacious snapshots of a randy royal in action during a Caribbean getaway.

Clearly, the pictures must be confiscated before they're made public. Just as clearly, government agents can't do the confiscating themselves. But perhaps Martine knows someone who might be up for the job of removing them from a Baker Street bank vault.

Conveniently, Martine does: an old flame from her old neighborhood, Terry (action man Jason Statham, adding some depth to his kick-butt persona). A retired small-time crook, mechanic Terry is succeeding in running his garage -- into the ground.

Desperate to repay some violent thugs, Terry rounds up a few pals to assist with the foolproof bank job, from a photographer ("The History Boys' " droll Stephen Campbell Moore), who's under the mistaken impression that he and Martine were once an item, to a struggling actor (hapless Daniel Mays) whose biggest talent is on display in movies produced by porn king Lew Vogel ("Poirot's" marvelous David Suchet, ably balancing dignity and sleaze). But no drugs; that's for the likes of Michael X (a suitably grandstanding Peter De Jersey), who uses his activism as a cover for less inspirational pursuits.

It takes a bit of time for "The Bank Job" to set up its assorted plot threads -- and the characters attached to them.

Once that happens, however, screenwriters Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais (whose award-winning collaborations range from TV's "Tracey Takes On ..." to such movies as "The Commitments" and "Flushed Away") interweave those threads in steady yet sprightly fashion, developing the characters' quirks and conflicts without shortchanging the mechanics of the heist itself.

Director Roger Donaldson, meanwhile, capitalizes on the intricate (but always intelligible) plot moves, orchestrating the action with brisk precision. Donaldson's always been good at this sort of thing, occasionally very good. ("No Way Out," a politically charged 1987 remake of the 1948 countdown thriller "The Big Clock," remains a standout example.)

And while "The Bank Job" has more than its share of gripping moments, Donaldson deftly balances them with the story's coincidental, and frequently more comedic, passages.

It's the kind of movie where the crooks have far more integrity than anyone else -- simply because they're honest with each other, and themselves.

That's more than we can say for the so-called good guys -- and it's one of several reasons why "The Bank Job" qualifies as a job well done.

Contact movie critic Carol Cling at ccling@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0272.