Whisky Bandit

I like based-on-true story movies. It was a nice story but poorly filmed.

The Whiskey Robber tells the story of a cultic bank robber in the '90s of Eastern Europe. It sounds a bit boring? Well, sometimes so is the movie - but luckily you can always find joy in the details. One can only praise the work of Nimród Antal and his crew, they did an exceptional job with turning around a plot that would otherwise settle down outside the action scenes. Superb sounds and music, great cinematography, costumes and locations providing more insight to the story than the conversations. Basically this movie could be about anything - a milkman or an insurance broker - it would still be interesting.

Quality made Hungarian heist movie from director Nimrod Antal, who has made many other decent action movies before. This is not a masterpiece, but certainly quite a lot better than other run of the mill heist movies out there. Dont shy away by the fact that it is a Hungarian picture, this heist flick can stand the comparison with any great American heist movie. Honestly.

It's an underdog story, based on true events, about a Hungarian kid without any money or a job, who starts robbing his first bank out of sheer need for money. His first heist goes smoother then expected and he gets the hang of it. His many succesfull robberies become a national Hungarian media spectacle and he sort of becomes a Robin Hood. It's even more fun to watch, since this all has actually happened for real.

The photography, editing and soundtrack are all of high quality. I mention these technical details because many action movies just dont get the filming of action scenes right. This one fortunately does though, resulting in really suspenseful, action packed chase scenes. With good acting to top it of. Like I said it is certainly not a masterpiece, but it is really an enjoyable underdog heistmovie, which deserves more attention from the true heist movie fan, because it has all the ingredients I could wish for in a good heist movie.

I think this is a very well made movie. It's not just very well directed but it successfully creates the authentic Hungarian/eastern european '90s atmosphere. It's amazing how authentic this picture feels. The casting is also amazing. Bence Szalay in the lead role just feels so natural but all the others are doing great. The director Antal Nimród is simply the best Hungarian director these days.

As a side aspect of the movie (in the first quarter) it portrays the vicissitudes of being Hungarian in Transilvania especially during the Ceausescu era.

A great soundtrack. A thrilling story with a good pacing. Good stylish cinematography well directed. I cared about the main hero and the people around him. Although the main hero played just OK, the supporting cast did a very good job. This is one of those few rare gem non-cliche movies.