‘How to Rob a Bank’ Review: Nicholas Hoult Delivers Adrenalized Big Finance Payback That Entertains Despite Its Tonal Mishmash

If the midterm elections were not indication enough that Americans are feeling the pinch and hitting back at a system heavily rigged to favor obscene wealth and unchecked power, high-octane action specialist David Leitch’s How to Rob a Bank offers further evidence. A kinetic heist thriller in which we root for the thieves — Mark Bianculli’s script name-checks Point Break, swapping Ex-Presidents for animal masks — the good-looking movie doesn’t reconcile its twin identities as a crime caper with a satirical edge and a poignant social justice fantasy. But a strong ensemble keeps things moving. Following up on the breezy insouciance of The Fall Guy, Leitch directs with his foot planted firmly on the accelerator, reassembling his trusty core team of DP Jonathan Sela, production designer David Scheunemann, composer Dom Lewis and editor Elísabet Ronaldsdóttir. If the early action overloads on YouTube interface and quippy content creation, that’s amply justified in the script, though it’s a relief when the movie takes time to breathe and allow the characters some depth. How to Rob a Bank The Bottom Line Now is the winter of our collective discontent. Release date: Friday, Nov. 13Cast: Nicholas Hoult, Zoë Kravitz, Anna Sawai, Rhenzy Feliz, Pete Davidson, John C. Reilly, Christian Slater, Paul Sparks, Tati Gabrielle, Young Mazino, Alessandra FrugoliDirector: David LeitchScreenwriter: Mark Bianculli Rated R, 2 hours 2 minutes Nicholas Hoult plays underdog antihero Ryan, aka “The Wolf,” who leads a close-knit crew of Pittsburgh bank robbers and fronts their popular online videos in a furry lupine mask. “Content is king,” he says in voiceover narration, explaining that an audience is more powerful than a gun. Their YouTube show is widely known by the acronym HTRAB and the catchphrase, “Who’s hungry?” It plays not only tightly edited footage of their daring bank escapades, providing tips for a growing number of copycat robbers across the country, but also their “pay it forward” philosophy of tossing cash at bank employees and customers, distributing larger sums to charities like schools, churches and hospitals. At a time when the American Dream is accessible only to the top wealth bracket, these bad guys are good guys, and they make it look easy. Says Ryan: “You’re more likely to live your entire life under the poverty line than get caught stealing your way out from under it.” The HTRAB crew includes Ryan’s partner Emi (Anna Sawai), the getaway driver and strategist, an expert at creating diversions to keep law enforcement occupied; combat vet Vince (Pete Davidson), who found that after he fought for his country in Afghanistan, his VA health insurance was not prepared to fight for him the same way; and tech wizard Hugo (Rhenzy Feliz), who shapes the YouTube content. Like many of their millions of followers — burdened by student debt and shrinking job opportunities, the goal of home ownership and medical coverage remaining out of reach — Ryan & Co. share a common bond of having run out of options. Bankrupted by medical bills and predatory money-lending policies, he and Emi struggle to accept tragedy that might have been forestalled with more available means. Hugo and Vince, who’s up against a ticking clock, are just desperate to provide for their families. While the robberies are diverting enough and the YouTube inserts splashed with pop-up graphics, the fun wears a bit thin, which makes the shift into trauma and pathos a welcome one, even if the transition might have been smoother. Basically, it turns into a different movie. The cast compensates for any shortage of fluidity, however, notably Hoult and Sawai, whose sexy body language counters the lacerating sorrow and anger left by a devastating loss; and Davidson, who curbs his comedy instincts to show uncustomary shadings. His final scene in the movie is intensely moving, in what’s arguably the actor’s best performance since The King of Staten Island. Feliz, best known for Marvel’s Runaways and HBO’s The Penguin, is given less to do, but his sparky personality makes him a magnetic presence. Having pulled off 15 bank robberies over three months and triggered a 400 percent increase in similar operations nationwide, the HTRAB bandits remain frustratingly elusive to the FBI. Nearing retirement and unwilling to go out on a failure, veteran agent John West (John C. Reilly) refuses to accept his team’s lack of leads. He recruits coding genius Reagan (Zoë Kravitz) to examine the hours of YouTube material for clues and patterns. An associate professor at Carnegie Mellon, Reagan is now serving time under house arrest on a hacking charge. She’s resistant at first, reluctant to break her routine of bong hits and junk food, not to mention sympathetic to the robbers’ cause. But West wins her over with an exchange that will wipe her slate clean. Reagan is a very cool character who gives Kravitz plenty of room to inject sly humor and irreverent attitude, even just via the low-key running joke of her constant eating in every scene. Initially looking to hunt down a deadbeat ex-boyfriend, she developed a tracking program called FYPOS (“Fuck You Piece of Shit”) designed to locate people via their social media activity. That becomes an essential tool in the FBI investigation. But after giving Reagan an intriguing setup, Bianculli’s script runs out of ideas for the character, relegating her to observer status for much of the climactic stretch. Reilly is put to better use as an old-school agency man set on doing his job, but with enough misfortune behind him to understand what drives Ryan and his crew. The chaotically plotted penultimate act involves West closing in during the “big finish” that the HTRAB team have been carefully plotting for months. That involves their agenda getting personal as they hit heavyweight financial institution Vitality Trust. That monolith is run by David Walton (Christian Slater), an arrogant asshole whose merciless loan scheme was designed to reap huge profits once the borrowers had been bled dry. The volatile mob of HTRAB followers gathered in the blocks surrounding VT inevitably recalls the wealth inequality protests of 2011 that began near Wall Street and spread to cities across the country, including Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles and Seattle. That brings a stirring “power to the people” sentiment, even as Ryan’s determination to complete their plan seems doomed once the Feds know their identities. But the movie keeps a few tricks up its sleeve for a satisfying coda. The narrative’s plot holes and contrivances don’t reward close inspection, but as an avenging underdog fairy tale pieced together from the shards of the American Dream, it’s fast-paced, entertaining and surprisingly emotional. That’s due in no small part to the soulful qualities the principals bring to their roles. Sela’s muscular camerawork, Lewis’ pulse-racing score and Ronaldsdóttir’s punchy editing all play vital parts, as do the energizing needle drops. These range from the pounding dubstep beats of “Victory Lap,” by Fred Again, Skepta and PlaqueBoyMax through the garage revival of The Hives, the alternative rock of Jane’s Addiction and the gorgeous, whispery vocals of Billie Eilish. The use of Radiohead’s haunting anti-corporate anthem “Karma Police” over one heartbreaking scene is a master stroke. How to Rob a Bank is not without flaws; there are times in the early action when it risks repeating the far-too-pleased-with-itself flashiness of Leitch’s numbing 2022 assault on the senses, Bullet Train. But there’s unexpected heart and a finger on the zeitgeist here that at least ensure it’s never dull — a mainstream commercial anti-capitalist movie in these rollercoaster times is a rare thing.