DVD RELEASE: 'The Bank Job's fast-paced action will appeal to 'Snatch' fans

"The Bank Job" is a decidedly British caper movie within the cinematic vicinity of Guy Ritchie’s unpredictable heist film “Snatch,” but this is based on the true story of the Lloyd’s of London bank robbery. The film doesn’t have a large cast with instant name recognition like the “Ocean’s” movies, but the relatively unknown actors lend believability to the characters as real small-time crooks in over their heads. The director, Roger Donaldson (“The Recruit”), creates escalating anxiety as the team plans and executes the bank job, but he also sustains a domestic element that shows these characters have real-world problems and vulnerabilities.

Due to the existence of a scandalous photograph implicating an important public figure in a sex scandal, the British government finds itself unable to prosecute a member of a black paramilitary group causing unrest within the country during the 1970s. The photo is hidden away in a safe deposit box in the ultra-secure Lloyd’s Bank of London, so a spy agency within the government is called upon to take the bribery item out of the picture. Terry (Jason Statham; “Crank”), a reformed small-time hood with a family, is approached by a former flame, Martin, to execute a heist when Lloyd’s electronic security system is suspiciously out of commission. Due to his current financial difficulties, he rounds up his former criminal acquaintances for a final big score, aware that there may be more to this opportunity than Martin is letting on.

The film’s 1970s environment is decidedly decadent, with crooked cops, porn kingpins, crafty prostitutes and lecherous politicians. Our hero Terry is fallible: quick-witted, yet unable to make a profit in his struggling automotive garage; a family man who loves his wife but is not oblivious to the temptations this new woman brings into his life. The other characters are lively, bringing humor, sparks of jealousy and distrust to the team, along with a peppering of British slang. Their criminal methods are low-tech but serviceable, and you’ll find yourself caught up in the excitement of doing the impossible and sticking it to the government, yet always aware that the repercussions are very real. “The Bank Job” is a brilliant example of a heist movie gone right in every way.

Rated R for sexual content, nudity, violence and language.