Teenage Bank Heist

Good: The pacing is well done, enough to keep you wanting to know what happens at the end. Acting is decent enough.

Bad: Many other things. With a movie name that has 'Teenage' in it, you know to expect some dumb decisions. Problem is you cannot have characters that create Sherlock-like plans one minute then do many other things on the level of a bratty first grader five minutes later. And this includes parents and cops. The ending(if you are over age 16) will make you say WTF. This movie plays more like a long after-school TV special and not exaggerating that last statement.

Its clearly a television movie but there's no major flaw that could be pointed out. The pacing is done correctly and the plot is engaging, enough. Every single character has a motivation and (sometimes weird) background. The message is flimsy at best.

The cinematography, though at times rather unimaginative and uninspired, oftentimes blossoms into relative sublimity.

The score is nothing truly remarkable but does its job quite fine. It adds tension to already well-crafted scenes of great suspense with great effect. Could be described as penile even flacid so...

Overall it was engaging enough to watch through.

Plot holes? Of course there are plot holes galore. You could drive TWO of those cash-carrying security armored trucks side by side through the unexplained gaps in this little flick's story- line. But I didn't buy it to experience the thrills of some superlatively- filmed teen bank robbery. No, I collect movies starring pretty girls, and I went from a 90210 guest star (Caitlin Thompson) to WALKING THE HALLS, and that DVD had this one's trailer, and I took one look, Just One Look, at this pretty squirrel fox who plays the female lead, and I thought "good golly jeepers that kid looks just like Jennie Garth!" which brought the circle back to BEVERLY HILLS 90210. Now, those were the heady days, I was so mesmerized by that one back then, And This, This Is Like Having Jennie Garth Re- Born! So, I am just sitting here, staring wistfully at this pretty actress, this wonderful beautiful young girl, and am I gonna complain about plot holes? Nope.

Aw. The script takes on too much. Actually, I should say the story-line takes on too much. The creators thought about having pretty girls be the robbers, but they all (except one scapegoat) had to be innocent... and for a basically small project with limitations this causes immense stretching of belief. Cassi and her kidnapped by terrorists Dad. Too much. Way too much. I mean, my brain is turned to much by the beauty on-screen, but shucks, there are so many complications.

Like, this junior bank official can sit there with freaking hot evidence and download a print-out unseen unquestioned? That kind of evidence, the FBI (or whoever) would have taken hold of immediately, as considerable cash is involved. Also, she rushes off, and later on, the police ask, where is she? D- uh, I mean, like, I am mesmerized by the blonde kid, but this TV movie really falters about within a few minutes.

Notice the bloodless fatal gunshots.

And Abbie is screwed big-time, as, like another reviewer has already pointed out, back home lies two (unexplained) dead bodies. So that little arrangement with Agent Mendoza is pointless. Like the movie.

But complain? Man! Me? Gawd, if Abbie Cobb presented the bleeding weather forecast on telly, I'd damn well tune in.

Cassie (Abbie Cobb) is a reluctant bank teller for her mother Joyce (Maeve Quinlan). Then 3 robbers come in. Cassie recognizes one of them as her best friend Abbie (Cassi Thomson), and she's taken hostage. She crashes the armor truck and injures her other friend Grace (Davida Williams). She helps them take care of Grace and finds out the real reason for the robbery. The other girl Marie (Augie Duke) is older and is doing it for the money with her boyfriend Nick (James Ferris). Meanwhile police agent Mendoza (Rosa Blasi) suspects that Cassie is actually in on the robbery.

It's an ambitious bank heist story, and a passable Lifetime movie. The girls are perfectly likable. The dialog is a little clunky at times. It starts off slowly, but it gets better. However the ambitious plot goes over the edge with a lack of overall style and competent action directions. A big screen movie would push the action to the next level, but this just doesn't have the next gear.

Thank you. Yes thank you actors, director Doug Campbell, and everyone else who was involved in creating this solid piece of film-making. This is a film you may typically skip over when looking for the big blockbusters, but don't. I actually almost did the aforementioned, but do to my interest in "heist" films, committed the title to memory from Red Box where I saw it, then scanned the web for further info on it.

I'm pretty sure this was a direct to home video film from MCI but it plays as good as any high end Hollywood film. This is a "TV movie" because of the affiliation with the Lifetime network but you would never know that to be the case after seeing it in my opinion. Also it is shot in widescreen and doesn't have a clunky TV aura to it. I can tell you that the film is not so much about plotting and planning a bank robbery, but more about the dynamics that reveal themselves in between. The acting is top notch for this kind of budget restricted film, and I can be one tough critic. These are some "giving it all you've got" portrayals that deserve recognition. I was on the seat of my pants waiting for the next twist or latent clue to come that eventually did and never failed to satisfy.

"Teenage Bank Heist" has some real actors in it that spout their lines with an incredibly realistic delivery. Almost nothing screamed "fake" to me and the little that did was based in pure sentimentality that works for films anyway. The camera shots were absolutely superb with limited but highly plausible action sequences. I would love to have seen extras on the DVD with interviews or behind the scenes footage but I don't even know if the film-makers knew how good a film they made. Plus, this was probably a package deal that had limitations with its distributing. This goes beyond just renting, its a keeper. I hope it catches on.

The players:

Maeve Quinlan: Joyce (Cassie's mom played with authentic determination) Abbie Cobb: Cassie (carries the film with bewilderment and empathy) Cassie Thompson: Abbie (knows how a gutsy thinking girl acts) Augie Duke: Maria (rage, spot on, period) Davida Williams: Grace (a quiet loss projected) James Ferris: Nick (has the unstable bad a$* role cornered) Rosa Blasi: Agent Mendoza (this is the FBI- a talented to the core portrayal with sugar on top) The "secondary" cast members more than held their own as well. And yes I know the two female leads Cassie and Abbie must have switched their real names with each other for their characters names- cool.