小偷大盗

In the wake of a banking crisis, four middle class friends throw a 'white glove' hold up, only to find out that their bank has already gone bankrupt. Alejandro Saderman, director of Knocks At My Door and El Ultimo Bandoneon, presents this comical yet serious tale of four friends during the crisis of the corrupt Venezuelan banking system. Frustrated by their own financial woes, these four men decide to take control by making plans to rob a bank. Without much experience in the logistics of theft, they find themselves in the public eye before the heist is completed. The film takes an unusual twist, though, as the characters try to negotiate their way out of the situation. The title comes from a popular proverb that says, He who robs a thief, deserves a hundred years of forgiveness. A likeable but unoriginal caper movie. This film is basically a caper movie about four men who plan to rob a bank, only to discover that the bankers have got there already, and the vaults are almost empty. It references 'Dog Day Afternoon' but is altogether too similar to that film to be truly original. Shot in Venezuela, this film was very popular with the local audience, but to viewers in other countries, unaware of the background to the film - many banks actually did have to close because of collusion between corrupt bankers and politicians - the film will have much less impact. None of this background is properly explained - presumably because the Venezuelan audience would take it mostly for granted. The acting is fine and it would have been nice to see some of the characters further developed, but there are too many neat contrivances and plot holes. (Why are the phones turned off, but not the power, so that the bankrobbers can still use the computers?) The script tries to be liberal, with one sympathetic gay character, but when one of the robbers gets shot ...