THE STORY – A crew of social media-savvy bank robbers broadcasts their daring heists, unaware that their growing viral fame has put them in the crosshairs of a veteran FBI agent and a brilliant software engineer. Despite the unlikely duo closing in, the crime ring pushes past their limits, putting everything on the line for their most ambitious heist yet.
THE CAST – Nicholas Hoult, Zoë Kravitz, Anna Sawai, Rhenzy Feliz, Pete Davidson & John C. Reilly
THE TEAM – David Leitch (Director) & Mark Bianculli (Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 122 Minutes
David Leitch’s rise in Hollywood as a filmmaker, producer, and advocate for the significant contributions stunt workers have made to cinema has made him someone studios are clamoring after. Hell, he’s a driving force behind why, after almost a century of Academy Award history, the voting body is finally taking the steps necessary to recognize some of this industry’s most underappreciated skilled workers. Yet despite his endless successes, his filmography still rests on the expectation that he has to deliver some of movie-making’s most riveting, stunt-heavy spectacles worthy of the silver screen. Leitch’s last feature, “The Fall Guy,” a revamp of the ’80s series and an ode to his craft starring a post-“Barbie” Ryan Gosling trying to jump-start his action-hero era as a leading man, was underwhelming. Yet somehow, with his latest “How to Rob a Bank,” Leitch forgoes most of what makes audiences seek his work in the first place, opting for an enervated heist flick whose simplistic commentary is a libbed-up middle finger to systemic injustice.
It’s apparent from the film’s opening that Leitch and screenwriter Mark Bianculi come from an older generation looking inward at a predominantly Gen Z worldview, mainly in terms of how exposed we are to content-creator culture. Audiences watch extensive heist sequences with production values on par with a Mr. Beast video, despite these characters having half the resources. Each video is narrated by over-rehearsed monologues from Nicholas Hault’s Ryan, the frontman of Hungry Wolf, a heavily armed group of thieves livestreaming their robberies under the series name How to Rob a Bank. Their videos quickly capture the zeitgeist, appealing to the youthful despair derived from the failure of the American dream. Ryan and his crew’s violations of the law are, for many, set aside as their revolutionary-esque messaging inspires more and more people to join their ranks by the day. That’s part of why Agent West, played by John C. Reilly, a veteran FBI agent nearing the end of his career, is irked that our societal structure of law and order is being challenged right before his eyes. “How to Rob a Bank” proceeds to familiarly regurgitate the longstanding cinematic rivalry of cop vs. robber in a manner that, even for Leitch, is a bit too bland.
Perhaps that’s Leitch trying to siphon any bit of energy from Bianculli’s script, and it all goes into recreating YouTube-style editing for the heist sequences, leaving audiences with nothing to hold on to. It’s almost as inefficient as the development behind these characters that viewers are supposed to root for, especially in how they’ve been wronged in life to the degree where their shared frustrations would drive them to such extreme actions. The ensemble as a whole is solid, as their thinly sketched characters are the hallmarks of most heist crews. Hoult’s Evan is the stoic yet tortured leader. Pete Davidson’s Vince is the comic relief (albeit with the former SNL cast member operating on a far more somber register), trying to support his family. Rheny Feliz is the personable techie trying to uplift the lives of those closest to him living in the barrios, and Anna Sawaii’s Emi is the one holding everything together as she also mourns the loss of her and Ryan’s child. They’re all serviceable performances that at least feel like a part of the same film, which can’t be said about Zoe Kravitz’s Reagan Gardner.
Kravitz’s character comes across as more than an afterthought; despite being second billed, her presence is purposefully planted as a political seesaw to open Riley’s eyes to his more staunchly steadfast worldview of the synergy between people and the rules we’re supposed to follow. Reagan, a pot-smoking software engineer on house arrest, is recruited by Agent West in the hopes that her illegal search engine FUPOS could aid in the search for Hungry Wolf. It plays as a buddy-cop film, and despite the chemistry Kravitz and Reilly have, it’s never as amusing as watching the titular series of robberies unfold throughout the film. Leitch’s comedic sensibilities also fall flat, with a one-off bit of Young Mazino as a TikTok lawyer as the only moment where humor actually feels in the vein of the generation it’s trying to depict. It doesn’t help that the poor pacing also keeps characters like absent from the narrative for large portions of the film, again mainly pertaining to Reagan, which feels like a missed opportunity with a performer like Kravitz in the role.
Funny enough, it’s when Leitch latches onto the familiar trope of respected adversaries on opposite sides of the law that Hault and Riley are able to do something worthy of their talents. Yet aside from a chase sequence halfway through the film, it’s not until the film’s finale that Leitch brings his sense of spectacle to the heist that “How to Rob a Bank” builds toward, and even to some of the hand-to-hand combat sequences. By then, it’s all too late: a heist film that’s rarely riveting, mostly unamusing, and misses the mark once again by Leitch’s standards, which he’s been chasing since “Deadpool 2.”
