A Man, a Woman and a Bank (1979) User Reviews

A pleasant surprise

[Roel1973 · 7/10 · 7 September 2016]

A lighthearted heist movie with a lot going for it. First of all, the chemistry between Donald Sutherland and Brooke Adams is terrific. He plays criminal master mind Reese who's planning to break into a new bank, which is just being built in downtown Vancouver. While stealing the plans to the building he's accidentally photographed by Stacey (Adams). He looks her up, trying to get the negatives, and he falls in love. This puts a little bit of strain on his relationship with his partner in crime Norman, beautifully played by Paul Mazursky.

Almost everything in this film has a relaxed feel to it. Conflicts are mostly resolved rather quickly and the story just sort of breezes along, with beautiful Vancouver locations. There are a couple of suspenseful scenes, when Reese and Norman are nearly caught, but mostly this is not about the heist itself, but more about the people who perpetrate it. As a comedy it offers no outlandish gags, but there are a lot of wonderful scenes, most of them involving Norman being a nervous wreck or Adams being way too cute.

I thought it was a very pleasant surprise.

OK

[boblipton · 5/10 · 6 May 2020]

Donald Sutherland and Paul Marzursky are planning a bank robbery when Sutherland begins an affair with photographer Brooke Adams. In a stretching of their usual screen personas, Marzursky is neurotic and Miss Adams is quirky. DP Jack Cardiff shoots Vancouver which, for a change, is supposed to be Vancouver.

It's an okay movie, which thirty years earlier would have been an ordinary programmer, or even a B movie. Unexceptional, some good moments, but adds nothing substantial to anyone's career, although I'm sure everyone worked their hardest.

Inconsequential but fun...

[moonspinner55 · 6/10 · 9 December 2022]

Bank in Vancouver, still under construction, is the target for robbery by a slick computer programmer/con-man (Donald Sutherland, with fluffy strawberry-blond hair) and his computer genius pal (Paul Mazursky), who's a hypochondriac; the "woman" of the title is professional photographer Brooke Adams, whom Sutherland falls for after she mistakes him for an executive and snaps his picture (the two are reunited here from 1978's "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"). Somewhat dippy, but not-bad crime-comedy from screenwriters Raynold Gideon, Bruce A. Evans and Stuart Margolin, from a treatment by Gideon and Evans, was the first and only film to come out of teen actress Kristy McNichol's niche production company, McNichol (although she doesn't appear). There's a gross, scary neighbor of Brooke's I could have done without (he's into whipped cream sex!), but the star-trio are a very smooth combination. Director Noel Black and cinematographer Jack Cardiff show a breezy touch with scenes that include movement (particularly in the graceful opening), and the logistics of the caper are well-considered. **1/2 from ****

Forgettable

[searchanddestroy-1 · 14 December 2008]

This is the typical heist movie made during the seventies. A comedy one, romance mixed up with thriller. Don't expect the unexpected. No surprise at all. But Donald Sutherland is wonderful, as usual. The heist itself is too rapidly executed. Too easily. I expected much more from this movie. And it seems that the director was not only Noel Black but also Jack Cardiff himself. I don't understand what that means...

Cardiff is not credited but the dictionaries and IMDb notes indicate that the great director of photography of so many masterpieces made this feature. So...

It is nevertheless a rare movie. It's hard to catch it. But I think it is now available on DVD, in department stores.

Up to you, if you like this kind of movies.

This didn't leave me in a depression, but I should have withdrawn.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 20 April 2022]

It takes a long time for this Caper comedy to get started, and you know from the very beginning that the character played by Donald Sutherland is up to no good. He is amusing in small doses, but he made too many films in a short period of time, taking the money and running like he does here in character. Along the way, he finds romance with photographer journalist Brooke Adams, but he wants nothing more than for her to be innocent of his activities. Along the way, he posted several times as a priest, pretending to be sending clothing for his mission to Macao, a useless detail that only serves to get him caught by her when she has to bail him out of jail.

Also involved in this often dull movie is director Paul Mazursky, here an actor, and perhaps he's better behind the scenes. I didn't think that Adams and Sutherland (reunited from the previous year is remake of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers") really had much romantic sparkle on screen, and I really didn't find much plot in the effort to pull off this ridiculous scheme that seems like an afterthought in the plot even though it's a major part of it. Good location footage (allegedly Vancouver) does help a bit. Allan Magicovsky is another obstacle thrown in the mix as Adams' allegedly suicidal boyfriend, another plot distraction to hide the fact that really nothing is going on. There's also a very dull theme song that's supposed to be Sutherland and Adams' love ballad over the credits, but Sutherland's character here isn't worthy of having a romantic theme.

Underrated Gem

[dtrobb · 10/10 · 7 May 2020]

Starting watching it the other night. I'm a sucker for '79 filmed in Vancouver movies. Rated 22% favorability by Xfinity TV rating system. Expected zero. Expected to stop watching because it would be so bad in a few minutes. Surprise. Thought it was a super movie. Probably, because I expected so little. Usually how those things work. Look for it. Enjoy.

Very good

[Delrvich · 8/10 · 22 May 2021]

A breezy rom-com that includes a bank heist but without the usual tension and action.

---------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Deliberately botched (for the "it's so bad it's good" crowd) 2 I don't want to see it 3 I didn't finish and or FF'd through it 4 Bad 5 I don't get it 6 Good 7 Great but with a major flaw 8 Great 9 Noir with moral 10 Inspiring with moral.