David Leitch’s new action comedy lands in theaters November 13th, and we got a head start with the cast.
Picture present-day America, where massive corporations control nearly everything, and people joke that the only way to get rich is to rob a bank. Now picture a crew that takes the joke seriously and starts an online group to show everyone else exactly how it is done. That is the premise of How to Rob a Bank, the new action comedy from director David Leitch, and after sitting down with the cast at an in-person press event, we can say the movie is as fun as it sounds.
Leitch, the filmmaker behind John Wick, Deadpool 2, Bullet Train, and The Fall Guy, shoots the entire film like a social media video. Quick cuts, trick shots, and a pace that never lets up keep the story moving, and we were on the edge of our seats from start to finish. The script comes from Mark Bianculli, and the ensemble includes Nicholas Hoult, Zoë Kravitz, Anna Sawai, Pete Davidson, Rhenzy Feliz, John C. Reilly, and Christian Slater.
When we asked the cast about favorite stunts, Reilly’s answer was a driving sequence. He described doing some seriously fast driving with Zoë in the passenger seat, and a moment on camera where the driver tells her to put her seatbelt on. It began as real concern for a trusting co-star and became part of the scene.
For Hoult, the highway scene was the hardest of all. The team rehearsed on smooth tarmac, but the bridge turned out to be grooved concrete, and the tires kept spinning. The driver missed the move for the first five takes with the whole crew watching in the heat, then finally landed it with Davidson cheering from the sidelines that it was “so hot!”
Off camera, we learned that much like their characters on screen, they spent a lot of time bonding.
The evidence includes a mechanical pickle ride that Hoult mastered, a game of Heads Up that got very serious, because “Rhenzy is very competitive”, and a Rubik’s cube that Hoult still cannot solve, even after Anna tried to teach him.
We also learned that Reilly is a talented singer who charmingly dazzled their group chat with videos.
Much of the praise went to Leitch himself, who started as a stuntman, became a stunt coordinator, and grew into a director. Reilly told us how Leitch really reshaped his perspective on what it takes to be a director. Admitting that stunt performers are amazing people who take incredible risks, though most people might not instinctively think that they can also direct.
Reilly explained that everything that he’s seen Leitch do proves those doubters wrong. The cast called him an amazing captain of the ship, equally strong with action, comedy, and the emotional depth of the characters. For Anna, this was the second time working with him, and this time there was room for real collaboration and conversation.
How to Rob a Bank is stylish, funny, and packed with real stunts, with a cast that clearly had a blast making it. It also pokes at a feeling many people share about money and power right now.
The film arrives in theaters on Nov. 13, and we recommend seeing it on the biggest screen possible.
