Yes!
Slow start - lots of T&A - was wondering if this was going to be the "strength" of the story, but once it got going, it got going with style and cleverness. The intensity builds slowly, like a well-choreographed tango!
The twists and turns got my attention - a good story well-told; great acting, especially by the lesser characters.
Based upon true events, the film reveals the human drama - always a mixed bag of good and evil, yet making clear that evil exists at both the bottom (the pornographer) and the top (British officials), and woven into the dark fabric, bits and pieces of decency (the British agent seeking to protect a member of the British royalty and the good cop). The interplay here between good and evil, and all of their permutations is philosophically sophisticated.
Intense without going over the top, clever without too many convolutions, a clever fairy-tale ending without sentiment.
Music, I loved it ... high energy.
Cinematography - very good - music: excellent.
I went into the theater looking to waste some time, but came away with a film much better than anticipated.
Is it a guy's movie?
Could be, but raw action and car chases are at a minimum. As noted earlier, a little heavy on the T&A in an extended night-club scene.
Chick Flic, maybe, what with it's unique portrait of a family (the lead robber is married) and the loyalty of love, even when tempted, tested and tried, able to withstand disappointment and failure, with "love covering a multitude of sins."
I think Jason Statham is terrific ... his character took time to develop. At first, just a small-time crook trying to go straight, but as the store unfolds, it becomes obvious that he's no one's dupe and not to be trifled with.
Saffron Burrows was good, but neither slinky enough to throw off the sexual heat called for in the story, nor innocent enough (being forced into this bank heist as a way to beat a drug smuggling charge) to generate sympathy. Perhaps a Mini Driver type would have been more provocative on both counts.
A film worth seeing? Absolutely!
