How to Rob a Bank Review: Nicholas Hoult Leads Leitch Heist
David Leitch's heist comedy How to Rob a Bank, starring Nicholas Hoult, opens in theaters November 13. Early reviews are split on its tone. The director says Amazon MGM never pushed back on its anti-capitalist message, and that he shot it in 40 days.
Director David Leitch's heist comedy How to Rob a Bank, starring Nicholas Hoult, opens in US theaters on November 13. Early reviews, including the Nicholas Hoult-led film's first round of notices, are split on whether its mix of action, comedy and drama works.
It is Leitch's sixth feature since he co-directed John Wick. It is also the first, he says, made to push audiences into action themselves.
What the film is about
Hoult plays "The Wolf," leader of a masked crew of bank robbers. The gang runs a hugely popular YouTube channel called Who's Hungry? and films its exploits, hoping to rally people who believe predatory institutions have hijacked the American Dream.
An FBI agent played by John C. Reilly is chasing them. His new weapon is a criminal programmer, played by Zoë Kravitz, who agrees to help unmask the thieves in exchange for release from house arrest.
The cast also includes Anna Sawai, Pete Davidson, Rhenzy Feliz and Christian Slater.
Leitch on the politics
At one point the film breaks the fourth wall with a message to those in power: fix the broken economic system, or we will fix it for you. Leitch spoke about the film on October 5, ahead of the November 3 midterm elections, and urged viewers to engage.
"How to Rob a Bank challenges individuals to change the system," he said. "Go out and vote for what you believe in. We still live in a democracy."
Amazon MGM produces and distributes the film. Leitch said the studio never objected to its anti-capitalist stance. "They want things to be provocative, and they want to encourage artists to speak their mind," he said.
Shot in 40 days in Pittsburgh
The story was not originally written for Pittsburgh, but the production moved there. It reportedly put nearly $60 million into the local economy to qualify for a tax incentive.
Leitch calls it a modest job next to his previous film, The Fall Guy, which had an estimated budget of $125 million to $150 million. "We shot this in 40 days," he said, against 86 days for The Fall Guy. "We just had to move quicker."
To save time, he used a second crew he called the "YouTube unit," mostly stunt performers who filmed the masked robbery scenes. That freed Leitch and the main cast to work on the characters' personal lives.
The two worlds look different on screen. The in-universe videos were shot on prosumer digital cameras, while the unmasked drama was filmed on 35mm.
