Daylight Robbery (2008 film)

Plot

Alex masterminds an ambitious plan to steal millions of untraceable cash that is stacked in the underground vaults of the London Exchange Bank, waiting for its last journey, incineration. Lucky, Matty, Terry, Chubby, Norman and Jay make up his unlikely gang of robbers. They initially set-up an airline check-in clerk as their alibi, by checking in to join the thousands of England supporters who are part of a mass exodus to the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. Then, instead of passing through to the departure lounge, the gang head out to the car park, pile into a van and head for Central London, where they ram the doors of the London Exchange Bank, blocking any exit for those caught up inside.

Their plan involves a tunnel they have dug up under the bank to funnel out the cash and themselves, all within a couple of hours, in order to catch their flight out to Germany. For this purpose, they have also set up an accomplice among the hostages, who will later patch up their exit point from the bank and himself escape among the freed hostages once the police move in.

However, as soon as they break-in, they have to contend with Chubby's leg wound that he has incurred after being out of the van. Chubby passes out soon thereafter from blood loss, forcing the gang to interact with the police camped outside and get a doctor brought in to the crime scene. All this while they are running on a short two-hour deadline. Things go smoothly elsewhere, however, and they are able to hustle the bags of cash and themselves out through the tunnel. However, right at the very end, Norman, the last man out, is trapped in the tunnel when a portion in the middle collapses. Alex sends everyone else off to the airport and frantically digs Norman out, ferrying him to the airport in a cab, where he makes his flight at the very last moment.

At the end of the film, it is revealed that Chubby never recovered from his leg wound and died when the plane landed in Germany, resulting in the police being able to match together evidence from the crime scene with Matty's identity and working backwards to piece together the gang's original plan. However, Alex, who did not travel to Germany, was never caught and has since disappeared with the money. He is shown to be supporting the rest of the gang through their prison terms, as well as Chubby's widow.

Cast

Reception

Despite a 6.0 average rating on IMDB from over 1,000 users, the film was met with mostly negative reviews. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes currently reports a 22% average approval rating from all critics. Professional critical opinion has been primarily negative. It was declared a big flop at box office

Josh Winning of Total Film called it a "confident first picture from writer/director Paris Leonti, Robbery sidesteps Ocean's-style gloss but keeps the tension ticking along." Giving it 3 out of 5 stars. Derek Malcolm of the Evening Standard gave the same rating, saying that for a small budget film, it was "made with complete professionalism" despite its unoriginal plot.

Most reviewers were less than favourable, but many who gave negative ratings admitted that it was an impressive attempt for the director’s debut feature film, yet did not excuse the mistakes made. Tim Robey from the Daily Telegraph gave 1 star out of 5, denouncing it as a "Dog's Dinner" of a film. Edward Porter from The Times also gave 1 star but admitted "You can't accuse Paris Leonti of lacking ambition: for his first film as a writer/director, he has attempted a British answer to 'Inside Man'. In all other respects, though, his work doesn't measure up." Similarly, Cath Clarke from the Guardian compared it to an "[East]Enders special"