Gentlemen cambrioleurs

For those who say this movie is slow and low budget: what did you expect? This is not Transformers, there is no Mark Wahlberg or Bruce Willis from the 90's, no CGI, no John Woo feat. Michael Bay. This is just a well delivered true story, brought to you by many of the best actors of our time. And it does not want to be more, so why do you?

The film is inspired from the true story of the Hatton Garden heist (thus, the script is already half-written) and the main actors are usually excellent. Despite this excellent a priori, the global result is bland, dull and devoid of passion. So boring that I was almost sleepy. As a synthesis: frustrating!

Yet another account of the 2015 Hatton Garden robbery that was pulled off by a bunch of geriatric career criminals, and which seems to hold a strange fascination for filmmakers and audiences alike. This one benefits from a stellar British cast (Caine, Winstone, Broadbent, Courteney, Gambon, Whitehouse) and its decision to focus on the disintegration of the gang's initial cameraderie almost as soon as the heist is underway rather than playing safe with unrealistic feel-good vibes. The real gang were unpleasant men, and to portray them as anything else would be a whitewash. Caine is finally showing his age (he's barely seen moving throughout) but still delivers, as do the rest of the veteran players.

No, there are no big car chases, or explosions. No fancy lasers, or big combat scenes. However, it is a fun story of aging burglars looking to score their final hurrah, portrayed by a slew of veteran actors who still have the skills to go from dottering elder to angry thug. Loved the use of the clips from their previous films as flashbacks. It was a refreshing change from CGI or Photoshop aging.

The wealth of acting talent and experience prompted me to want to see this, coupled with an interest in the real life story.

I'm stunned to read people find this slow, it's hardly designed as an action packed thriller. It's the telling of real life events. I thoroughly enjoyed it, the story is intriguing, the acting is first rate, plus it contains some very humorous moments.

It begins off in quite a light hearted way, it's jolly and funny, but oncr the deed is done, it takes on a more serious tone, the laughs are fewer, and the true greed of the characters comes out.

Excellent performances, Caine, Gambon, Courtenay and Winstone all excellent, but for me it was Jim Broadbent who stole the show, he was superb. Francesca Annis was lovely in it, though sadly not for very long.

It's not a classic, but well worth seeing for the wealth of acting talent. 8/10