A motley crew of criminals plans to rob a Los Angeles bank that's temporarily located in a mobile home during renovations.A motley crew of criminals plans to rob a Los Angeles bank that's temporarily located in a mobile home during renovations.A motley crew of criminals plans to rob a Los Angeles bank that's temporarily located in a mobile home during renovations.
- Bank Guard
- (uncredited)
- Bank Guard
- (uncredited)
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis was originally intended as a starring vehicle for Robert Redford and George Segal at 20th Century Fox, as a sequel to The Hot Rock.
- GoofsWhen Ballentine goes to the drugstore to purchase saltpeter, he requests Potassium Sulfate, rather than Potassium Nitrate.
- Quotes
[after hearing Victor Karp's initial plan to rob the bank]
Walter Upjohn Ballentine: I'm going to get up from this table. I'm going to walk to the nearest police station, and I'm going to turn myself in. And they will take me back to Streiger's funny farm, where at least I was safe...
[He looks around at the others]
Walter Upjohn Ballentine: ...and sane. And I pity the poor schmuck who tries... to stop me.
- ConnectionsFollowed by Jimmy the Kid (1982)
Completely wacky story involving seven nutty people who decide to rob a bank that is inside a mobile home. They do so by stealing the entire building only to find that trying to open the safe is even tougher.
This is the type of comedy that works because although it is built around one gimmick it doesn't just stay dependent on it. Everything is offbeat here. It really is just one laugh after another and it comes at a extremely fast pace. Nearly every scene is diverting and some of it even memorable. It shows a good handle on the absurd with just the right balance of the irreverent particularly with the police and other authority figures. Scott's escape from his prison camp is good example of all these ingredients. He uses a stolen bulldozer to crash through the gate while the police chief tries to 'chase him down' while driving nothing more than a flimsy little golf cart. It all makes for one of the most unique chase sequences you will ever see.
Of course the actual heist of the bank building is still the best. The innumerable and frustrating attempts at trying to open a most difficult safe comes in at a close second. There are also a lot of other fun ironic twists.
Scott is not necessarily the best person for the part of the cunning and audacious criminal mastermind. He looks very old, grouchy, and tired here. He has your grandfathers big bushy eyebrows and talks with a very strange lisp. Yet he is also at his crumudgeon best and the film makes the most of it. Cassidy with her infectious laugh and very sunny disposition makes for a terrific counterpart. James though probably stands out the most in a over the top caricature of the hard nosed police sergeant. It's the best role of his career and a part he looks to have been born to play.
If the film has any faults it is the fact that it tends to be too one dimensionally silly and at points seems almost cartoonish. A little more tension here and there wouldn't have hurt. It also goes by way too fast and the ending isn't very satisfying. Still this is a solid comedy that should appeal to anyone with a good sense of humor. It is also fun for the whole family.
- rwint
- Apr 5, 2004
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