How to Rob a Bank review: a fun heist with one big problem

Bank robbers who livestream their heists, wear wolf masks and toss cash at the tellers. It's a great pitch, and for its first hour How to Rob a Bank mostly lives up to it.

The verdict: a slick, likeable heist movie with a strong cast and real energy, that loses its grip on the story just when it should be tightening it. Critics are split: it has 41% on Rotten Tomatoes from 51 reviews and a Metascore of 45.

David Leitch, who made Bullet Train and The Fall Guy and co-created John Wick, directs from a script by Mark Bianculli.

Nicholas Hoult plays Ryan, aka "The Wolf", ringleader of a Pittsburgh crew who film their robberies, cut them into pop-art tutorials and post them online. "You know what's more powerful than a gun?" he asks. "An audience."

His crew are Emi (Anna Sawai of Shōgun), the getaway driver, tech whiz Hugo (Rhenzy Feliz) and army veteran Vince (Pete Davidson). On their tail is John C. Reilly's FBI veteran, who ropes in Zoë Kravitz's stoner hacker to track them down.

Amazon MGM opens it in US cinemas on Friday, Nov. 13, after a release date shuffle that moved it from September.

When it works, it flies

The robberies are the fun part. Leitch, a former stuntman, is rarely happier than when someone goes through a windscreen, and the film has wild car chases and at least one brutal brawl it doesn't strictly need.

Time Out's Phil de Semlyen (3 stars) called it "Point Break retooled for the era of Luigi Mangione and post-Occupy discontent", and the film knows it: Reilly's agent says Point Break made him join the FBI, and Kravitz replies that it made her want to rob banks.

Hoult is the engine. IndieWire's David Ehrlich wrote that he brings a touch of the menace he had in The Order, and that his conviction keeps the film moving "even when the film is just spinning its wheels".

The surprise is Davidson. As Vince, a veteran let down by the country he fought for, he plays it quiet, and The Hollywood Reporter called his last scene "intensely moving", arguably his best work since The King of Staten Island.

Time Out says Reilly is as good as he's been in ages, and he and Kravitz are terrific company together. The soundtrack, from Fred Again to a Radiohead needle drop THR called "a master stroke", does a lot of heavy lifting.

The problem nobody can ignore

Then the film changes gear. Halfway through, the YouTube stunts give way to tragic backstories, and the tone lurches from Deadpool-style quips to grief and anger.

THR welcomed the shift but admitted "basically, it turns into a different movie". Empire's Kim Newman was harsher, saying it "has a lot of flash" but "keeps switching tones and fizzling out".

The bigger waste is Kravitz. Her hacker gets a great introduction, a running joke about eating in every scene and the film's best tech gimmick, then sits on the sidelines for most of the finale.

Ehrlich called it "an enormous self-own" that she never so much as interacts with Hoult's side of the story. Newman agreed that Reilly and Kravitz are more interesting than the robbers, and yet they get dropped from long stretches.

Its anti-bank politics are louder than they are sharp. Christian Slater turns up as a slimy banker to take the blame, but Empire pointed out the crew have bigger grudges against health insurers and the lack of support for veterans. Slant gave it 1.5 out of 4 and called it limp and toothless.

Still, it's never dull. THR summed it up as "fast-paced, entertaining and surprisingly emotional", plot holes and all, and a big studio heist movie that sides with the robbers against the banks is a rare thing.

If you liked Bullet Train's flash or want a Gen-Z spin on Point Break, there's a good night out here, and the cast make it easy to forgive the wobbles. It's rated R and runs 1 hour 53 minutes.

See it on a big screen for the chases, or wait for streaming. Just don't expect the story to keep up with its getaway car.