Release Date: 09/02/2008
Label/Distributor: IFC Films
Rating: Unrated
Prebook DVD: 07/22/2008
Retail Price: $19.95
Genre: Comedy Cast: Nick Stahl,David Carradine,Leo Fitzpatrick,Erika Christensen,Terry Crews
Director: Andrews Jenkins
Running Time: 81
DVD Video Options: Color,DVD-Video,NTSC,Subtitled,Widescreen
DVD Audio Options: Spanish;Subtitled,English;Original Language
DVD Extras: behind-the-scenes footage
UPC Code: 796019812481
Half of the fun of writer-director Andrew Jenkins' feature debut - a heist film that gets everything right about a crime that goes all too wrong - is keeping track of who is doing what to whom and why. Who is robbing the bank? What are they after? These are the simple elements that keep rearranging themselves as Jinx (Nick Stahl) and Jessica (Erika Christensen) find themselves trapped inside a vault, with bank-robber Simon (Gavin Rossdale), stuck on the other side of the vault door, and the police stuck outside the bank. A fresh, freewheeling take on a genre perennial, Jenkins' film playfully hits the reset button every time things seem to settle into place.
How to Rob a Bank
By Cheryl Cheng -- Video Business, 8/18/2008
IFC/GENIUSStreet: Sept. 2
Prebook: now
> Visually slick comedic thriller lacks suspense.
How to Rob a Bank follows a slacker (Nick Stahl) upset by his ATM surcharge fees who goes to a bank to complain while a robbery is underway. He winds up locked in a vault with a cyber thief (Erika Christensen), and much of the film is spent with the pair as they bicker and predictably fall in love. Bank is being marketed as a comedic thriller, although it has limited comedy and even fewer thrills. In an attempt to add to the comedy, Gavin Rossdale plays an inept bank robber, and Terry Crews is a bumbling police negotiator. And despite the fast camerawork and cutaway shots, Bank elicits little suspense; you never worry if anyone is in any imminent danger.
Shelf Talk: This indie film will benefit from exposure at such festivals as the Los Angeles Film Festival and a limited theatrical run. The cast, which is prominently displayed on the box art, is fairly notable and could draw attention, particularly Rossdale, front man of rock outfit Bush and hubby of Gwen Stefani.
Crime comedy, color, NA (mild violence), 81 min., DVD $19.95Extras: none
Director: Andrews Jenkins
First Run: L, Feb. 2008, <$1 mil.