Loophole
Loophole
| 25 June 1981 (USA)
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When architect Stephen Booker loses his partnership, he finds jobs hard to come by, and with money in short supply, he unwittingly becomes involved in a daring scheme to rob one of London's biggest bank vaults.

Reviews
Karry

Best movie of this year hands down!

MusicChat

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

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Dynamixor

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

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Nayan Gough

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

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arabken

Actually a competent little thriller , utterly and totally ruined by a lousy bewildering last 10 mins or so ! .... Honestly its unbelievable and makes no sense whatsoever ! Well done scriptwriters / director for ruining a nice little film that could have been well more regarded , but now i would tell anyone who thought of watching this movie to avoided it as it truly offers up one of the most unsatisfying and stupid endings you could ever think of !

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Tony Rome

This is a very good caper film. The crooks are very professional, and they do not use any forms of violence. Martin Sheen plays a down on his luck architect, drawn into assisting with a large bank heist involving the use of the underground sewer system. The pace of this film is slow, but it keeps the viewers interest. Jonathan Pryce appears in this film in an early role as one of the crooks. Albert Finney is great as the leader of the gang, and Colin Blakly is equally good as his assistant. Susanah York does not have much of a part as Martin Sheens wife. I give this film a nine out of ten. It is definitely worth a look. See it if you are a fan of caper films, see it even if your not a fan of caper films.

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lobo1955

A thoughtfully planned ripoff of London's largest and most secure holding bank of the safety deposit boxes, a quite improbable venture, is basis for an action movie in this nicely finished film that successfully and consistently features valuable understatement in its script. American architect Stephen Booker (Martin Sheen), working and residing in England and married to an English woman (Susannah York), is facing a depressing future after an important contract for which he and his partner have bid is awarded to a competing consulting company, leaving Booker's firm essentially fund less and paving the way for a non standardized adventure film. The newly unemployed architect's efforts to find a new position are unsuccessful, as he is repeatedly reminded by those with oversight of the jobs for which he is applying that he is "overqualified", until he is of a suddenly hired by one Mike Daniels (Albert Finney) to design a conversion of an entire city block, an assignment that will serve to elide Stephen's rampant personal debts to his banker, played very well by Robert Morley. However, after Stephen has discovered that Daniels, his new boss, is an apparent mountebank, he resigns from his new position, thereby being forced to encounter his wife's displeasure, in addition to that of his banker, so that when Daniels, a proficient safe cracker, urges Booker to rejoin him as part of a carefully selected crew of criminal specialists organized for this bank job, Stephen decides that becoming a temporary accomplice is less intolerable than becoming increasingly destitute. And so, into mid-town London's rat infested sewer tunnels goes the skilled team of burglars toward their targeted vault, but their carefully devised heist,is fraught with unforeseen complications, realistically presented here by cast and crew. Direction is excellent, focusing upon convincing detail supplied by a well-written screenplay that avoids turgid psychodrama in favor of the mechanics of a scheme that becomes of compelling interest to a viewer who will additionally find the characters of interest simply because their innermost thoughts are not voiced, and the intriguing possibilities suggested by the climax are stimulative. Finney handily earns the acting laurels, dominating his scenes with an engaging performance as an actuating criminal specialist, and there is fine playing by all members of the talented cast, with markedly solid turns from Colin Blakely and Alfred Lynch as two of Daniels' henchmen. The superb editing of Ralph Sheldon serves to intensify this well-crafted affair, Maurice Cain for always appropriate designing, and Ian Wingrove for the special visual effects, in particular when the sewer exit route to be used by the thieves is flooded following an unfocused downpour.

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rsoonsa

A thoroughgoing plan toward husking London's largest and most secure holding bank of the contents of its safety deposit boxes, a quite improbable venture, is basis for action in this nicely finished film that successfully and consistently features valuable understatement in its script. American architect Stephen Booker (Martin Sheen), working and residing in England and married to an English woman (Susannah York), is facing a depressing future after an important contract for which he and his partner have bid is awarded to a competing contestant, leaving Booker's firm essentially fundless and paving the way for what will not be a standardized adventure film. The newly unemployed architect's efforts to find a new position are unsuccessful, as he is repeatedly reminded by those with oversight of the jobs for which he is applying that he is "overqualified", until he is of a sudden hired by one Mike Daniels (Albert Finney) to design a conversion of an entire city block, an assignment that will serve to elide Stephen's rampant personal debts to his banker, played incisively by Robert Morley. However, after Stephen has discovered from documents while developing plans for the project that Daniels, his new boss, is an apparent mountebank, he resigns from his new position, thereby being forced to encounter his ambitious wife's spleen, in addition to that of his banker, so that when Daniels, a proficient safebreaker, urges Booker to rejoin him as part of a carefully selected crew of criminal specialists organized for the bank break-in, Stephen decides that becoming a temporary accomplice is less intolerable than becoming increasingly destitute. And so, into mid-town London's rat infested sewer tunnels goes the skilled team of burglars toward their targeted vault (actually filmed within the Unilever Building upon the north side of Blackfriars Bridge), but their carefully devised heist, that will incidentally free Stephen Booker from his monetary obligations, is fraught with unforeseen complications, realistically presented here by cast and crew. Direction is excellent, focussing upon convincing detail supplied by a well-written screenplay that avoids turgid psychodrama in favour of the mechanics of a scheme that becomes of compelling interest to a viewer who will additionally find the characters of interest simply because their innermost thoughts are not voiced, and the intriguing possibilities suggested by the climax are stimulative. Finney handily earns the acting laurels, dominating his scenes with an engaging performance as an actuating criminal specialist, and there is fine playing by all members of the talented cast, quite synchronous to the refinements soaked throughout the script, with markedly solid turns from Colin Blakely and Alfred Lynch as two of Daniels' henchmen. The superb editing of Ralph Sheldon serves to intensify this well-crafted affair, not distributed within the United Kingdom, and it is salted with the valuable contributions tendered by Michael Reed and his camera, Maurice Cain for always appropriate designing, and Ian Wingrove for the special visual effects, in particular when the sewer exit route to be used by the thieves is flooded following an unforecast downpour.

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