King of Thieves

The bulk of the biggest heist ever carried out on UK soul that everyone (at least in Britain) knows about is done by the hour mark. The rest of the film tackles the group politics, mistrusts and backstabbing that tore the geriatric heist crew apart. This is no bad thing as it appears to be the best part of the true story from which this film derives it's material.

Michael Caine leads the charge on a cast supercharged with British talent: Tom Courtney, Jim Broadbent, Ray Winstone, Paul Whitehorse and an underused Michale Gambon. The interaction between this rag tag group of British acting talent, transposed perfectly to the gang of criminal minds at the story's core, is electric to watch especially considering how much the actors seem to be playing characterised versions of themselves or past famous roles. Indeed, the last few scenes use archive footage of the actors' past roles (Caine in The Ipcress File, etc) to highlight their characters' criminal pasts to great effect.

It's a fine heist film that still manages to create tension despite the audience knowing full well how the story ends - however, it doesn't add a whole lot to a genre that's been overcrowded for decades. That's not to say it should be avoided; nay, it offers the best chance of us Joe Public in understanding what happened over that extremely profitable Easter Weekend.

Best quote: TBC