Bellman and True

A fired computer programmer (Bernard Hill) has been hired by a gang of bank robbers to steal confidential computer information from his previous employer. The problem is, the information is encoded. He takes his son along with his payment and runs away but gets stuck when the money runs out. He returns home only to be confronted by his "new" employers. He is forced to decode the information he stole so that the robbers can use it. His son is kept hostage until he has what they want. It gets more involved when the plans change and he has to go along on the robbery to disable the alarm system. This movie is a great heist movie. The video release has been edited so much it doesn't explain important parts in the plot. There is a unedited version out there that shows more details but is usually only shown in full on TV.

This movie was the original for which the 1993 movie The Real McCoy was based on. Only this one is better!

I'm a huge fan of "heist" movies, a sub-species of "caper" movies. And there's something especially delicious about the British argot that makes British heist movies especially great fun. ("Sexy Beast," "The Great Train Robbery," "The General" all add to this list)

But across all heist movies "Bellman and True" is my all-time favorite. Bernard Hill gives one of his most nuanced performances as an alcoholic computer programmer who is left with his girlfriend's son ("True") when she dumps both of them. To get out of debt he's sold some information to a gang about bank security, but now he and the boy are on the run because the gang wants more than information--they want him to help plan the heist.

I won't give away anything more, but the heist itself is a white knuckle masterpiece, directed by Richard Longcraine (Richard III, with Ian McKellen, and Smiley's People, with Alec Guiness).

Through it all Russell is surrounded by more than a dozen great performances by some of the UK's finest character actors. Richard Hope as "Salto," is especially strong, as the gang member assigned to be Russell and the boy's jailer.

Trust me---the caper, which makes up the second half of the film, is worth a viewing on its own, but the strong characters and acting make it a real hidden gem of 1980s British cinema. This film jump started Longcraine's career, which recently included "Wimbledon," "My House in Umbria," and the to be released Harrison Ford thriller "Firewall."

Bernard Hill makes an unforgettable character as the reluctant participant of one of the most exciting and detailed bank robberies ever filmed, second only to Jules Dassin's "Rififi" 30 years earlier, but this is more intricate and human, as both children and women also are involved. The film is very technical as Bernard Hill is a computer programmer who is the only technical expert of the film, he agreed to solve a computer problem for some criminals planning to rob a bank and got paid for it, but those ruffians won't let him go until the heist is completed, as they need continuous technical help from him, keeping also his son as a hostage. The son is not really his son, he married his mother who has deserted them both, but he does not want the boy to know. This family intrigue complicates matters of course, but the thriller only gets better as the complications continue to pile up. This is a masterpiece of suspense, Bernard Hill actually at times reminds very much of Alec Guinness, who would have made this role equally excellent. This will be a classic, unforgettable to everyone who sees it, as the realism, the plot, the characters, the complications, the ladies, everything is perfect.

Not forgotten by me however.

I saw this on the big screen in 1988,the cinema was not busy but it was in Canada so I don't know if it was popular in the UK (I am British).

The film is an odd unpredictable heist film.

It is well acted and uses good locations.

I guarantee that first time viewers will never guess the plot development.

If you know and love the well known British gangster films you might want to seek out the recent blu ray of this.