"King of Thieves" - preview screening

One almost feels like this story revolving around the Hatton Garden Diamond job by a group of more mature thieves has been done to death already. Don't quote me but I believe that this is at least the third production involving this storyline. I guess that what gives this one the edge is the very top notch British acting talent involved. Any Director would say goodbye to some serious anatomy parts just to get one or two of these actors involved, let alone having 5 of the very best.  For those of you who may have been blissfully unaware of what happened, basically a group of senior aged thieves planned a robbery in the famed Hatton Garden area of London during the Easter Bank Holiday. There will be no staff to cause distress to, and the area will be deserted and in theory no one will realise what has been done til everyone is back at work the following Tuesday. The ideal opportunity.

Sir Michael Caine plays Billy, the brains behind the scheme. And he assembles a motley crew to help in the caper, all with their own skills and personalities, and as mentioned, bringing these characters to life is some of the very best British acting talent.
It is hard to say what kind of film it is trying to be, whether biopic, comedy or drama, all these boxes seem to get ticked. And unfortunately it means that the film is a little bit all over the place.

Sir Michael Caine and Ray Winstone are playing characters that we have seen them play before, and in fairness, in far superior films, but there is still much to enjoy about "King of Thieves", most notably Jim Broadbent in something of a departure role. And Tom Courtenay is highly entertaining as a gang member with a hearing problem.

There is a riotously funny highlight of the film and it involves the introduction of Michael Gambon's fence character, and Sir Michael Caine in bewilderment.

Seeing the cast together is the main reason that many will enjoy this film, and rightly so, but it could have been a real great, up there with that other Ray Winstone masterpiece "Sexy Beast"....6 out of 10