CHEV CHELIOS SAYS STICK ‘EM UP

Roger Donaldson is one of those directors for whom the oft-overused description of “solid” is actually perfect. The guy has worked steadily in studio pictures since the early 80’s, and some of my favorite silly genre flicks (Species) and small thrillers (Thirteen Days) come courtesy of this gent. Now, he’s currently shooting a 70’s-set bank heist movie in England with Jason Statham and Saffron Burrows, and before shooting has even finished, Lionsgate has snapped up the US rights for the film.

The Bank Job (which I believe is to be called

there) is based on an infamous London bank robbery that was never solved. What makes this film different, however, is that the focus isn’t so much on the heist itself, but the fact that there was a government gag order in place for 30 years after the robbery that indicated ties of corruption and scandal.

I’m especially excited to see Statham working with someone of Donaldson’s caliber. Don’t get me wrong…I could watch the guy do stuff like The Transporter and Crank all day, but he’s not always the most discriminating guy (Need I remind you that he’s the star of the next videogame epic from Dr. Uwe Boll, In the Name of the KingohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseconfusethiswithoneoftheLOTRfilms: A Dungeon Siege Tale). So he needs stuff like this to balance his karma and keep him from being just another Western action guy swallowed by the easy money of cheap, insane international action/martial arts flicks.

One Wesley Snipes is enough.