The Heist Before Christmas

Really wanted to like this but what a disappointment. Very tame storyline, unbelievable acting and cringe attempts at humour. Nesbitt gets surprisingly little screen time and Spall is poorly cast. The two exceptions were the young boys who had a big role and have big futures.

I'd say that this film is best suited to Cbeebies and doesn't warrant a prime time adult slot. It was basic, boring and poorly written.

The scenery was depressing and bleak, I know that was partly the point of it, but it was such a stereotypical view of Northern Ireland. If I lived there I'd be livid that this lottery funded film portrayed my country in this way.

Yawn!

This is without question the worst film I've seen in a very long time. The main character is a badly behaved kid that I guess is supposed to have a redemption arc storyline. That doesn't happen however, he just remains a horrible character throughout. The various bits of the story don't work at all together either. The mother's story in the shop is rubbish, again, it just highlights a horrible character and doesn't really add to the overall narrative. There are some really good actors involved and it's a real shame to see them so badly used. It's really terrible. An hour and a half if my life I'll never get back.

Great Christmas movie. Soleful with no cheese. Fabulous cast and two great young actors. James Nesbit is just enough and does not take over. Its very witty and well directed. It just shows that you dont need cgi or a massive budget to make a good heartfelt movie. Good chemistery between actors, good actors a good storyline and even some corney christmas cracker jokes works a treat. This is a nice one to watch on Christmas day for all the family while you are waiting for the turkey to cook. It is not too much or not too little just a little gem of a movie that you dont come accross all too often.

In director Edward Hall's low-budget, Northern Irish tv-standard Xmas romp "The Heist Before Christmas" ne'er-do-well pre-teen scrote Bamber Todd follows mean santa-suited bank robber James Nesbitt to his woodland hideout, hoping to score some of his loot... but also there in the woods is the similarly santa-suited Timothy Spall, claiming to be the ACTUAL Santa, fallen from his sleigh. Todd's bro Joshua McLees, struggling single-mum Laura Donnelly, & the po-po led by Bronagh Waugh all get pulled into a 1hr 12min tale that writer Ronan Blaney admirably avoids some big clichés in, but in so doing so leaves some holes & questions. It's not terrible, but is sadly forgettable.

Really enjoyed watching this movie. The child actors are the absolute stars of the show. The film is set in Northern Ireland and focuses on a socially deprived family. We weren't expecting much but had lots of laughs as a family watching this on Christmas Day. It's a breath of fresh air to not watch a film about precocious wealthy children being spoiled rotten during the festive season. The true spirit of Christmas comes through by the end of the movie. There is also a bit of Home Alone style action which my kids absolutely loved to watch. The adults had quite a few laughs too. Well done Jimmy Nesbitt!