How to Rob a Bank (and 10 Tips to Actually Get Away with It)

The plot idea is fine and the story telling is not too long.

This is so dated and noticeably low budgeted, but damn if it isn't charming. Nick Stahl playing the meandering goofball protagonist, who can be particularly clever when he wants to be, is what makes this movie click, and it's filled with a few chuckles here and there from B characters as well. I enjoyed it overall, don't expect Heat, but expect a little fun.

It's difficult to make a film where nothing happens exciting to the viewer, but the filmmakers have done that here. Because nothing happens. And it works anyway. The cinematography is original and well done. The way the DP has the camera move gives you a real feel for the location and the claustrophobia the characters must feel. One shot in particular stands out. The camera moves from the vault back through the bank, out a bullet hole, and ends with the cops.

The dialogue is sharp and often funny. You might not be repeating any lines to your friends but the dialogue feels real. Okay, there was a little exposition, but not a lot. The exchange that ends with "I have his number if you want it" cracked me up.

The situations with cell phone use feel authentic in how they play out. The characters' frustrations and lack of cleverness is a refreshing change from most films. The editing is fairly tight. Scenes don't drag.

The movie itself...Not a classic, not very memorable, and very, I mean VERY unrealistic.

Still, I say who cares? Some people take every issue so seriously. I was reading one reviewer who was whining about the screens on the computers in the movie that were on for probably a whole 30 seconds...huh? People take things way to seriously. As stated the movie itself isn't the best and the ending is kind of rushed, but it has some great actors(including the late David Carradine) and its a fun flick. So, If your like me and you don't care that someone's tie didn't match their shirt then check it out.

I give it a 6 and It deserves no less then a 5

"How to Rob a Bank" is a low-budget oddity in which a young private citizen (Nick Stahl) gets accidentally locked in a bank vault with a hot-and-sexy would-be robber (Erika Christensen). The trick is it's hard to tell whose side young Jinx is really on - the bank robbers' who are holding the employees and customers hostage on the other side of the steel door, or the cops', led by Officer Degepse (Terry Crews of "Everybody Hates Chris"), who are stuck outside the bank trying to defuse the situation. Jinx is a customer mightily ticked off at how banks literally nickel-and-dime their depositors at every opportunity - and it is anger at this outrage that may inspire him to shift his loyalties to the malefactors in the final stretch.

Written and directed by Andrews Jenkins, the movie earns more points for creativity than it does for execution. The story is often needlessly gimmicky and confusing, the direction unpolished and lacking in finesse, and the performances low on subtlety and shading (though Stahl is very good). Plus, what with its made-on-the-cheap appearance, collection of pseudo-profundities and single-set mise-en-scene, "How to Rob a Bank" definitely has a film-school-project feel to it.

Still, it's kind of fun watching the movie turn the bank-robbery formula on its head, particularly in its blurring of the lines between the hostages and the hostage-takers, the law-breakers and the law-enforcers. Plus, for a little added kick, it has the late David Carradine appearing in a cameo role right at the closing moments.

This film is not your typical run of the mill weekend show on TV, this film is different than what the cable television channels are showing feeding the masses these days.

This film is original, creative, quirky and funny. The cast are amazing, and the storyline is simply fantastically (is that even a word, I do not know, but I used it anyway, in lack of a better word) made.

I wouldn't recommend this as a thriller, as I think this is more of a dark comedy, entwined with actions and clever conversations.

This film, whilst not Oscar worthy, is good nonetheless. Issues regarding bank security, of our dislikes of banks charging us for services they were supposed to give for free to the customers, is mentioned here.

I like the way the story is told, and of the tips given. For the record, I have no intention to rob any banks (yet), but the tips do come in handy should I decide to change my career in the future.