The Bank [DVD]

Winner of the Best Original Screenplay at the 2001 AFI Awards and nominated for another nine (including Best Film and Best Director), Robert Connolly’s “The Bank” is a highlight of contemporary Australian cinema. The hyper-intelligent, mathematics guru, Jim Doyle, gets a job at the largest bank in the country, Centra Bank, after convincing the CEO, Simon O’Reilly, that he is one step away from cracking the “holy grail” of economic theory - accurately predicting fluctuations in the stock market. Although the bank has closed multiple branches and slashed jobs, profits are still lagging and the Board demands results. For O’Reilly, Doyle is the answer to guaranteed ever-increasing profits and corporate expansion. His risk seems to have paid off when Doyle presents O’Reilly with a flawless formula that predicts an imminent stock market crash: the perfect opportunity for Centra Bank to gain extraordinary market control and power. Things take a dramatic, unexpected turn, however, when characters are revealed to be not what they seem. Doyle’s girlfriend, Michelle Roberts, is instrumental in uncovering the truth. Intercutting the scenes of corporate power and ruthlessness is the narrative of a pair of everyday ‘battlers’ whose lives are irrevocably damaged by Centra Bank, and seek revenge. Extremely well-crafted and well-scripted, “The Bank” is an engrossing, thoroughly entertaining corporate thriller. Shot entirely on location in Melbourne, it is an accomplished Australian genre film and its anti-bank, anti-corporate politics make it perfectly suited to contemporary audiences. Finally, “The Bank” is bolstered by flawless performances, including Anthony La Paglia as the evil O’Reilly and David Wenham as the sensitive, multi-layered Doyle, and a host of supporting actors including Sibylla Budd, Steve Rodgers, and Greg Stone.