Heist Scenes in the Movies: How Plausible Are They?

This is a guest post by Brandon Meagher:

There are countless classic moments in cinema that
feature jaw-dropping heists, robberies and crime capers. While watching these
shockingly memorable scenes, some viewers might catch themselves wondering,
�Could that really happen?� Others, however, might think, �That�s literally impossible!�

Although we could argue both sides of this debate
indefinitely, here�s the main point to remember: it�s only a movie. Reality
often gets suspended when seen from Hollywood�s exaggerated lens. A blog piecefrom Atlanta Lockmaster states it best by explaining that movie criminals are
the career/veteran like crooks while in reality the majority are young petty
thieves looking to make a big score.

In fact, based on recent studies conducted around bank
heists and robberies, would-be thieves stand a higher chance of receiving a
payout in the movies than out on the streets.

Real Bank Heists vs The Heists in the Movies

According to 2009 research compiled by the FBI, an
average robbery payout in the U.S. totaled roughly $4,000. You were probably
expecting a much larger sum, right?

That assumption likely results from films such as Ben
Affleck�s entertaining crime drama, THE TOWN (2010), for example. In the
opening scene, Affleck and his gang of Boston thugs steal well over $4,000 with
automatic assault rifles and frightening masks. Watch this scene and determine
for yourself if such a reckless feat could be successfully replicated
off-screen.

Criminals Opening Safes On Screen -- I Can Do
That...Right?

Another scenic moment many moviegoers love is an intense
safe cracking sequence. Our eyes bulge and spines stiffen as we intently watch
the sweat dripping down a character�s face while he or she forces open a
deposit box, full of valuable jewels or cold hard cash. One such scene particularly
stands out as classic edge-of-your-seat cinema -- Charlize Theron�s
pulse-pounding heist from THE ITALIAN JOB (2003). With her enemies on hot
pursuit, Theron�s character still manages to crack a safe and escape with the
loot in stacks of gold in under two minutes.

In actuality, however, the process of breaking into a
lockbox is more complex and time consuming. The World Champion safecracker
takes an average time of 5 minutes to open a secure bank vault. You can view
his impressive performance on the Discovery Channel.

Moreover, the world�s most secure bank vaults require
around 15-30 minutes for even the most experienced safecracker to break open.

Beating The Motion Sensors -- They Make it Look So Easy!

Fans of the crime genre also tend to enjoy scenes
involving motion sensors such as this iconic moment in MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE
(1996) when super-spy Ethan Hunt, played by formidable action star Tom Cruise,
repels down a secure vault and catches his own sweat to avoid motion detection.

After watching this far-fetched exploit, you might be
shaking your head at the sheer lack of believability. Nevertheless, Cruise�s
fictional stunt actually served as inspiration for a real-life robbery in 2010.
This case involved a group of South Brunswick, New Jersey, thieves who pulled
off a Mission Impossible-esque heist at a local Best Buy. Using power tools,
they cut a hole in the store�s roof, repelled through that opening and stole
$26,000 worth of laptop computers, while managing to avoid touching the floor.
This enabled them to evade both motion sensors and security cameras.

It�s Just a Movie

Although a rare circumstance, this elaborate crime caper
suggests that, while they seem virtually improbable, some film heists should
not necessarily be discredited as sensationalized box-office drama.   

Regardless of how unrealistic these sequences appear to
you, many moviegoers still agree that the image of a stealth crook breaking
into bank vaults, avoiding motion detector lasers and walking away with a
million dollars is undeniably entertaining.

Are there any scenes from your favorite �Hollywood Heist�
that we haven�t analyzed? Tell us about it in the comment section below!

Sources:

http://business.time.com/2012/06/14/thinking-about-robbing-a-bank-read-this-first/

https://www.safeandvaultstore.com/blog/breaking-into-a-safe/

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/03/acrobatic_thieves_hit_nj_best.html

About the Author

Brandon Meagher, a graduate from Georgia State University
with a Bachelor of Arts in Film, is a self proclaimed movie junkie and enjoys
watching, talking, and blogging about everything film related. You can check
out more of his work here at Movies on the Mind. He currently resides in Southwest
Florida.

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GONE GIRL: The Film Babble Blog Review

Opening today at a multiplex near you...

GONE GIRL (Dir. David Fincher, 2014)

David Fincher�s adaptation of Gillian Flynn�s bestselling novel is a great, gripping piece of cinema � one of the year�s best. It�s an immaculately crafted thriller that will throw you for many loops throughout its twisty narrative, while at the same time it provides a chilling commentary on the troubling impact of public perception, and how matrimony can drive one mad.

Ben Affleck, in perhaps his most layered performance, plays Nick Dunne, who finds on the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary that his beautiful blonde Amy (Rosamund Pike) is missing, and there�s a broken glass table and traces of blood around the house to suggest foul play.

Affleck calls the cops, and a pair of detectives, Kim Dickens (THE BLIND SIDE, Treme) and Patrick Fugit (ALMOST FAMOUS), begin investigating the disappearance. Through flashbacks we see the young couple in their early courtship as young idealistic magazine writers that are �so cute I want to punch us in the face,� as Pike puts it.

We learn that after the recession left them both jobless, the married couple moved to Affleck�s hometown of North Carthage, Missouri to help take care of his dying mother. Affleck opens a local bar with his twin sister (Carrie Coon) with Pike�s trust fund money, and teaches community college, while unhappy housewife Pike, heard in voiceover, details the deterioration of their marriage in her diary.

Led by Missi Pyle as a Nancy Grace-style cable TV pundit, the media scrutinize Affleck and Pike�s relationship, with suspicions from all quarters coming in that he�s responsible for her death, even though there�s been no body found.

There�s so many tasty twists that it would be wrong to go any deeper into the ins and outs of the plot, I�ll just say that halfway through this film�s two and a half hour running time you�ll get the first of several satisfying shockers.

As somebody who has been hated in real life (see: GIGLI), Affleck nails his part as the �a corn-fed, salt-of-the-earth Missouri boy� who�s grown cynical with his deer-in-the-headlights reaction to cameras at the first press conference and his nervousness towards the crowd at a candlelight vigil are dead-on. He pulls off the attempts to take control of the situation with mighty aplomb as well.

Pike, who should be a household name after her sharply focused work here, gives us a character with whom we initially trust and sympathize, but the more we learn, the less we like.

But as Affleck and Pike are perfectly cast, so are Tyler Perry (yes, that Tyler Perry) as a slick Johnny Cochran-ish lawyer, Neil Patrick Harris as a creepy ex-boyfriend of Pike�s, and Casey Wilson (SNL, Happy Endings) as a ditzy neighbor claiming to be Pike�s best friend, and David Clennon and Lisa Barnes as Pike�s rich parents who had co-authored a series of childrens� books inspired by their daughter (�Amazing Amy�).

Author Flynn has refashioned her novel into the film�s sprawling yet concise screenplay, which is laced with wicked wit, as well as some grotesque touches that moviegoers won�t soon forget. Fincher�s procedural skills have been well honed in films such as SE7EN and ZODIAC, and they�re on vivid and immersive display here.

GONE GIRL is Fincher�s best film since 2010�s THE SOCIAL NETWORK (his 2011 version of THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGO TATTOO wasn�t bad; just a bit redundant, since the Swedish original pretty much covered it), and it�s the most solid, intelligent thriller I�ve seen in years.

Its haunting ending had me trembling, and thinking, even though I know my marriage (coincidentally also at the five year mark) is on much better ground than theirs, that I should better watch my step.

More later...

DVD/Blu Ray Review: RUNNER RUNNER

  

RUNNER RUNNER (Dir. Brad Furman, 2013)

Remember the slick Justin Timberlake/Ben Affleck movie RUNNER RUNNER, that came out and died last October? No? Wait � a few of you do?



Well, it�s one of those first class flops that made me wonder if it was really as bad as its 9% Rotten Tomatoes rating says it is so I queued it up on Netflix.



It starts off intriguingly with a coolly confident Timberlake as a Princeton grad student, who�s an affiliate for an online poker site on the side. A flashy opening credits montage fills us in with snazzy graphics and TV news sound bites that online gambling on college campuses is on the rise.



Amid the headlines about Ponzi schemes, bribery, and racketeering, we catch a glimpse of Affleck as e-Casino tycoon Ivan Block, identified as �King of online gaming on FBI list.� This scene they're setting up here is certainly very different to today�s gambling and poker scene with the recent legislation changes and legal options for USA players.



After Timberlake loses a lengthy game to double his tuition money to a cheater on Affleck�s �Midnight Black� site (in a circling camera sequence that cribs off Fincher�s dorm room brainstorming scenes in THE SOCIAL NETWORK), he travels to Costa Rica to seek out Affleck, and show him that he has proof that his system swindled him.



At a glitzy party that Timberlake talks his way into, Affleck thanks him for bringing this data to his attention but has him escorted out. The next day, Affleck invites Timberlake aboard his yacht The House (as in �the house always win�) and offers him a job at his website with a guaranteed 7 figures in the first 18 months, guaranteed 8 figures in the first three years. Of course, it�s an offer he can�t refuse and we�re off running running.



Brian Koppelman and David Levien�s screenplay follows the template of Oliver Stone�s WALL STREET with Affleck being Gordon Gekko to Timberlake�s Bud Fox � even utilizing the lady love interest that used to be the bosses� scenario - but with a bit of the gambling with other people�s fortunes stakes from Ben Younger�s BOILER ROOM (which featured an Affleck cameo) getting thrown around here like bouncing dice on a craps table.



Timberlake gets predictably more and more caught up in the dangerous dealings of Affleck�s corrupt corporation, and has an FBI agent (Anthony Mackie) breathing down his neck, so he sets out to outsmart everyone, win the girl (Gemma Arterton, who as one IMDb commenter put it �has never looked hotter�), and perform a highly engaged, impeccably choreographed, show-stopping song and dance number climax. Okay, everything except that last one happens but, dammit, it�s Justin Timberlake so forgive my wishful thinking.



Affleck is so convincing as the top dog douche here that it�s easy to see what fuelled the Great Batman Backlash of Summer �13. With his slimy character�s pretentiously spoken speeches and his demented delight in feeding his enemies to crocodiles (or threatening to), Affleck isn�t even up to subpar Bond villain standards; he�d barely cut it as the bad guy in a LETHAL WEAPON sequel or Miami Vice episode, or at least with this material.



As it checks off all the routine thriller clich�s, including the one about the deadbeat gambler father (played here by John Heard) whose life is on the line in the big game, RUNNER RUNNER is one of those terrible yet terribly watchable movies. It�s fun to guess what the next line is, and ridicule the lame attempts at twists.



Those into gambling online will be disappointed because after the film�s set-up, it�s really not about the world of internet gaming at all. It just uses that as an unsuccessful springboard into another tired student-becomes-the-teacher face/off between two big names.



Director Furman, whose much better 2011 crime drama THE LINCOLN LAWYER helped spark the McConaissance (you know, the current era in which Matthew McConaughey is an heavy-hitting Oscar winning dramatic again after a lost period of rom coms?), has made a competently structured narrative but with little inspiration or depth. With hope, the next time out he�ll take a riskier gamble than this vacuous vehicle driven only by star power.



More later...