Okay so this post started off as "My Favourites (Pt 2)" but realizing how I had already mentioned so many movies about bank robberies, I figured I should just re-title it and focus on that genre. Bare in mind, many of the movies listed here feature some of my all-time favourites, as well. Here we go:
- Dog Day Afternoon (1975): Based on a true story, this is an incredible movie about a bank robbery starring Al Pacino. Such great characters in this film. This is not a movie where the robbers are bad guys or sleek/ cool or money hungry.
They are just average guys trying to maneuver around this situation
they have found themselves in. In fact, one of the three robbers at the
beginning of the movie, bails out on the other two because he is too afraid to go through with it! I love this movie SO much!! There is a lot of social commentary: about the frenzied effects of the media, Stockholm syndrome, the Attica prison riots, queer equality, etc. I especially love the ending because it was done so perfectly. It portrays really nicely how we as people, when we are trapped with one another, we construct this fleeting world of meaning that is so powerful and feels so authentic; but once we are free to move away from each other, the fantasy ends and we slip back into the larger more generic world of meaning.
- Heat (1995): It is as though someone ordered a sandwich with Al Pacino and Robert Di Niro, and a little bit of Tom Sizemore and Val Kilmer on the side. Fan-tastic movie! Admittedly, it is "pretty Hollywood" but it has definitely earned the status of being a "classic". I love this movie almost as much as I love Dog Day Afternoon. It is not a movie you will easily forget. It has a definite sleek and sexy feel to it and each of the characters are played so well. It is a movie where everything came together just right! Definitely of the "cool" variety.
- Der Rauber/ The Robber (2010): This is a German film that has a pretty interesting take on the bank robber film genre. It is another movie based on a true story but again, very unconventional. The lead character does not rob banks because he is destitute or in a crime syndicate or whatever. He does not even really care about the money. He literally does it because it makes him feel alive, it makes him feel something substantial in his life. He is a marathon runner and probably feeds off the endorphins/ the thrill that comes with robbing a bank.
- The Ladykillers (1955): Not sure what idiot thought this movie needed to be redone because it is perfectly hilarious the way it is! This movie is a ball of laughs! Posing as talented classical musicians, five robbers rent a room at a little old lady's house. They play all sorts of classical records to make her think they are playing their instruments, but in actuality, they are scheming, smoking, and hashing out a plan to rob the bank down the street. Unfortunately for them, she is a just a bit intrusive and has a tendency of "getting in the way"! A really fun movie that features an Amazon parrot for those parrot lovers out there!
- Shallow Grave (1994): Okay so this is not really a movie about a bank robbery AT ALL but it involves a big wad of cash being discovered by three roommates leading them to act in really strange ways. I thought it would not be too out of place here. This is one of those really demented movies that make you feel weird about watching it while you are watching it. Lots of dismembered bodies, paranoia, jealousy, greed and I would venture to say madness in general! Good movie.
- Waking Ned Devine (1998): Okay so this is REALLY stretching it. Again, not about bank robberies AT ALL but it could fit into this category because it is about stealing money from the lotto commission. An elderly man from a small town in Ireland wins a really big lottery but sadly, he passes away from all the excitement. When the townsfolk catch wind of this, they devise a clever plan of having someone pose as him, cashing in the winnings and splitting it amongst themselves. Fun little feel-good movie! Pretty much talks about how money can have the exact opposite affect on you that Shallow Grave portrays!!
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