The ten funniest movie bank robberies
Nathan Swank
June 5th, 2013
With the release of NOW YOU SEE ME – a ridiculous but entertainingly light-hearted heist film by a group of magicians, I was inspired to come up with a top ten heist films. I quickly realized that their are far too many heist films and I needed to narrow my search a little. What if I limit myself just to banks? While that did take out OCEAN’S ELEVEN, it really didn’t cut down the pack as much as one might think. So I went a little more original choosing the Top Ten Funniest Movie Bank Robberies. So while the Joker might be a bit of a clown, his awesomely brilliant heist killing off his team members in THE DARK KNIGHT is a bit too serious to make this list.
10. TOMMY BOY – While technically not an official bank robbery, Chris Farley as Tommy Callahan does get blamed for an attempt. Frantically searching for the auto parts king, he screams into the bank, “listen up everybody. This will only take a second.” Everybody jumps to the floor, while the security officers cowardly do the same immediately sliding their guns his way. Perhaps the funniest moment comes later with this little exchange:
Kid: “Hey, Mom! It’s the guy who robbed the bank.”
Tommy: “I didn’t rob any bank.”
Kid: “Oh, yeah, right. Like it was some other real fat guy with a tiny head.”
Tommy: “I got a tiny head?”
9. BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID – The plan is to rob a bank in Mexico, but they don’t know any Spanish. So Paul Newman’s Cassidy memorizes a few Spanish lines the night before. Unfortunately, he has to use his poorly constructed notes, causing quite the confusion for the hostages and his partner (Robert Redford).
8. FUN WITH DICK AND JANE – Jim Carey and Tia Leoni play a couple of suburbanites who have lost their jobs. One solution is to rob a bank. Only their ridiculous disguised plan is thwarted by a more professional and dangerous burglary happening at the same time.
7. THREE FUGITIVES – Poor Lucas (Nick Nolte) has just been released from jail for multiple bank robberies when he inadvertently gets caught up in someone else’s bank robbery as a hostage. While the situation is light-hearted fun, Martin Short capitalizes on the inept bank robbery scene. First, while wearing pantyhose on his head, he bites a grenade pin, instantly tearing them as his face is revealed. Second, the money bag gets caught on the chandelier. While the visual of scrawny Martin Short trying to leap up beyond heights of which he is capable, the real humor is when he asks the teller to help, revealing to be even tinier.
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