Cash Out
Banks and bankers usually only become the subject of movies when robberies are involved, whether the cash is taken at gunpoint or through dubious financial transactions. Here, a sampling of Hollywood's vision of people with the real money.
The Shawshank Redemption
Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is wrongly convicted for the murders of his wife and her lover. His pre-prison profession as a banker comes in handy, as he gives financial advice to guards and helps the warden set up a shady business. The warden lets Andy have certain pieces of contraband that he secretly uses to plot his escape. Once out, Andy makes sure the warden's ill-gotten gains find a better home.
Wall Street
Greed is good, as Michael Douglas' Gordon Gekko famously says as he takes a young stockbroker (Charlie Sheen) under his wing. Insider trading takes the place of lock picks and dynamite as the means to get the cash. The moral of this story? Don't get caught. A sequel, where Gekko has to deal with life after prison, is in development.
It's a Wonderful Life
Mr. Potter (Lionel Barrymore) can claim the title of worst banker ever. He pockets $8,000 that is accidentally left by the uncle of George Bailey, the hero who sees what would have happened if he had never lived. In an alternate universe, Potter is more powerful and rules over disreputable businesses. Fortunately for involved except for Mr. Potter, George rejoins the real world and Potter is seen for his evil ways.
The International
Interpol Agent Louis Salinger (Clive Owen) is trying to get the goods on an evil bank and its even more evil bankers. "Everyone whose ever been tied to this bank has ended up dead," Salinger says.
The Bank Job
Based on the real story of a successful 1971 heist from a Lloyd's Bank in London, a group of thieves contend with spies, cops, and black radicals as they tunnel underneath a chicken restaurant to get to their loot.
Dog Day Afternoon
How many times does someone rob a bank out of love? Al Pacino's Sonny Wortzik stages the robbery of a Brooklyn bank so he can pay for the sex-change operation of his boyfriend. The crime, of course, doesn't exactly go according to plan. Like The Bank Job, the movie is based on a true story.
Inside Man
An elaborate scheme involving decoys and misdirection is designed to throw everyone off the real reason a team of robbers breaks into a Manhattan bank—Christopher Plummer's bank chairman has a Nazi past, and he hires Jodie Foster to keep his secret under wraps. A sequel is in the works.
Mad Money
To show that bank robbery isn't just a man's game, Diane Keaton leads Queen Latifah and Katie Holmes on a scheme to steal millions of old currency from a Federal Reserve Bank.
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