THE BANK JOB (2-DISC SPECIAL EDITION) (Maple) Jason Statham rides his abundant Crank goodwill through this slickly produced caper flick, which is based on a true story the way Rick Ross wears his pants — very loosely. Statham plays a debt-ridden London chop-shop owner coerced into an elaborate heist by a glamorous ex-lover (Saffron Burrows), and he fits the role’s stoic contours perfectly: it’s a fine minimalist star performance. Meanwhile, veteran hack director Roger Donaldson piles on the jazzy, faux-’70s technique, so as to keep the action moving (mission accomplished) and to distract from the fact that he has zero interest in the script’s borderline-serious evocations of royal-family ribaldry and MI6 malfeasance. EXTRAS: Commentary by Roger Donaldson, Saffron Burrows and composer J. Peter Robinson, “Inside The Bank Job” featurette, “The Baker Street Bank Raid” featurette, deleted and extended scenes, theatrical trailer.
TRAFIC (Criterion) The last M. Hulot outing was also probably the weakest, but minor Tati is still a major delight. Released in 1971, the same year as The French Connection, Trafic’s vehicular hijinks are no less brilliantly choreographed. EXTRAS: “In the Footsteps of Monsieur Hulot” interview from 1971 with the cast of Trafic (from the French television program Le journal du cinema), “The Comedy of Jacques Tati,” a 1973 episode from the French television program Morceaux de bravoure, theatrical trailer, essay by film critic Jonathan Romney.
Also out this week
2007-2008 NBA CHAMPIONS — BOSTON CELTICS (Warner) Check this space in exactly one year for a review of 2008-2009 Eastern Semi-Finalists — Toronto Raptors. EXTRAS: documentary bits, interviews.
PENELOPE (Summit) True love encumbered by the presence of an enormous schnozz is a scenario that has given us at least one great seriocomic work (Cyrano De Bergerac). It’s also given us Penelope, an onerous Fairy Tale For Grownups™ starring Christina Ricci (avec porcine proboscis) and James McAvoy (avec his usual shit-eating grin). EXTRAS: behind-the-scenes featurette.
SHUTTER (UNRATED EDITION) (Fox) Spirit photography, like Spinal Tap, is big in Japan. Thus we have Shutter, which finds an American camera jockey (Josh Jackson) and his jumpy new bride (Rachael Taylor) fending off standard-issue wraith-ghosts on a honeymoon jaunt across the Pacific. Even by the middling standards of North American Asian horror remakes, this one sucks — except for the LOL-tastic (and mildly creepy) last shot. EXTRAS: commentary, featurettes, deleted scenes, alternate ending.
Out July 22
21, Spaced: The Complete Series, Vampyr (Criterion) and, at long last, American horror auteur Larry Fessenden’s genuinely brilliant eco-scare thriller The Last Winter.