source: Break In

Despite a decent cast Loophole is a mediocre heist movie that lacks characterisation, style and tension. It's methodical storytelling which offers nothing new to the genre and a bank robbery story that has been done many times before and since to better effect like The Bank Job (2008), Buster (1988) and King of Thieves (2018), and although these were based on true stories the fictional Loophole, based on the novel by Robert Pollock, did inspire a real life criminal gang known as the Sewer Rats to commit similar robberies. This low budget British movie made in 1981 looks more like it was made for TV than a theatrical release and is quite satisfied to simply exist than have any ambition. Albert Finney does the best he can with the material as does Martin Sheen in what looks like a cynical attempt to appeal to the US market by having an American star in the cast. He plays an architect living beyond his means and in deep debt who, despite wanting to do the right thing, accepts the bank job that criminal Finney has masterminded in the City of London by using his knowledge of the buildings' architecture. John Quested's uninspired by the numbers direction condemns this movie to the instantly forgettable pile and it looks like most of the budget went into the underground sewer scenes in the finale. In the hands of a more visionary director it could have been much more exciting but this is a dull, plodding, lacklustre exercise and Lalo Schifrin's lousy score certainly doesn't help matters. You won't want to see this more than once if at all.

This excitingly off-beat, unfairly overlooked, intelligently crafted British heist thriller has a loot to shout about! Not least being the engagingly written, tautly plotted screenplay that clearly attracted such a wealth of sublime acting talent! John Quested's dynamite crime thriller about a seasoned, tightly-knit crew of experienced blaggers planning and executing an audaciously lucrative heist has demonstratively lost none of its fascination! Alongside the razor-sharp filmmaking by Quested, the nuanced performances are irresistible, and the driving, atmospheric score by maestro Lalo Schifrin is a defining factor in elevating this engrossing narrative's dramatic intensity. It's always a rare treat watching a finely honed, artisan genre feature with so many supremely gifted actors. Another pleasingly aspect of 'Loophole' is that the credible dramatic elements are no less robustly expressed than the frantic, thrillingly tense heist itself. The gifted director's lean, no-frills approach is remarkably effective, drawing the viewer deep into the protagonists increasingly precarious, unrelentingly harsh subterranean environment, thereby giving their pragmatic actions a stark authenticity so frequently absent in its glossier, hyperrealistic counterparts. There's one especially evocative interlude wherein the cool master thief Mike (Albert Finney) and the plainly anxious architect Stephen (Martin Sheen) silently take tea together before finalizing their partnership which proved most eloquent, and for me, rewarding subtleties like this separate the cinematic wheat from the chaff! It's always a rare treat watching a finely honed, artisan genre feature starring so many supremely gifted actors! Another pleasing aspect of 'Loophole' is that the credible dramatic elements are no less robustly expressed than the frantic, thrillingly tense heist itself. The gifted director's lean, no-frills approach is remarkably effective, drawing the viewer deep into the protagonists increasingly precarious, unrelentingly harsh subterranean environment, thereby giving their pragmatic actions a stark authenticity so frequently absent in Loophole's glossier, hyperrealistic counterparts. There's one especially evocative interlude wherein the cool master thief Mike (Albert Finney) and the plainly anxious architect Stephen (Martin Sheen) silently take tea together before finalizing their fateful partnership which proved most eloquent, and for me, rewarding subtleties like this separate the cinematic wheat from the chaff!

Tense, ably constructed thriller is a credit to some strong players and an astute director. Blessed with a clever original work (novel by Robert Pollock), but not such an ingenious screenplay, director John Quested has been able to draw out his movie and squeeze it for a few drops of decent suspense. Albert Finney is perfectly debonair as the Englishman who has a penchant for safe-cracking. Having set his sights rather high for his next job, he employs the services of out of work architect Booker, well played by the young Martin Sheen. Susannah York, Coliin Blakely, Jonathan Pryce and Robert Morley also star. Saturday, January 8, 2000 - Video

This film was worth a look because it's got an altogether British theatre fantasy cast - and Martin Sheen, acting their socks off, until two things became apparent: Martin Sheen would never be married to Susannah York - what? Completely rubbish. She looks about twenty years older than him and completely not his type. Then the ending, oh the ending. A very exciting downpour means the raid goes horribly wrong, and something's bound to happen, but why was Sheen left behind? Why did he make that decision? HOW DID HE GET OUT? It's like the whole film was a dream...Biggest plot hole EVER.

LOOPHOLE is one of those bank heist thrillers that were all the rage in the late '70s and early '80s. Other worthy additions to this sub-genre of filmmaking include SEWERS OF GOLD and A NIGHTINGALE SANG IN BERKELEY SQUARE. This one's a little slower-paced than those, a little grittier too; it's more of a character piece, with Martin Sheen's protagonist getting plenty of back story in particular. The heist itself doesn't occur until the climax, but it is very well portrayed with a maximum of suspense. Another highlight is the supporting cast, made up of familiar character actors, all of whom do their bit; watch out for Albert Finney and the likes of Jonathan Pryce in an early role.

The whole movie goes well until it reaches its 20 final minutes, when the climax is about to happen. When you think you are going to have a lot of fun and a heck of a surprise, the movie just trolls you like you have never been trolled before. At first, I thought I was on Candy Camera or that I had seen an unofficial edited version of the movie. Unfortunately, it was neither case. It is ridiculous: the movie just ends, like a thunder. Boom: and you got the credits... At first is hard to believe, then you realize that was really it. I do not understand how the other critics do not point the obvious elephant in the room which is the lack of explanation regarding decisions taken by Martin Sheen at the end of the heist (which were a key part of the plot, at that stage of the movie) and how the other guys wrap up their activities... One guy simply dies out of nothing, for no reason, and the director does not even give us the opportunity to understand what took place... He simply appears floating dead in the water... At that moment, you just do not know if things went sour for the group or if they just went sour just for that one character. You also do not know if the poor guy got unlucky due to sabotage or forces of nature. The whole movie, in general, (until its 20 final minutes) is excellent: well produced, interesting, nicely filmed and edited. The last 20 minutes, however, destroy the whole venture and turn it into one of the worst wastes of time in the history of movies. How are people not raged with the meaningless cut in the picture? I searched several reviews to see if someone discussed the drastic unexplained cut, but it made me feel like I was in the Twilight Zone... No one touches the issue. Hahahaha... I have searched several videos in YouTube to make sure I got the version and all of them were like the one I saw, with the incredible cut right in the middle of the climax of the movie. No explanation is offered regarding the most interesting (and expected) part of the movie. It is just as if the money ended and they had to come to an abrupt "abort & shutdown". I visualize the funding people arriving at the studio and saying: "Stop everything right away. Let us go with what we have so far. Thank you, gentlemen, it was a pleasure working with you." A real shame for what could have been a fantastic movie.

Thief Mike Daniels (Albert Finney) plans to break into the biggest bank in England for one last haul. His team sets up a false office in order to interview architects with the idea they can coax the suitable candidate into mapping out their underground digging job. Down-on-his-luck American Stephen Booker (Martin Sheen) seems to be the ideal candidate for the job, but he scoffs at the idea of being a criminal. That is until he finds out his wife (Susannah York) reallllly wants to start up her interior decorating business. OH NOES! So he descends (literally) into a life of crime in order to finance her dream. The "loophole" of the title refers to the fact they will break into the vault through the ground and set off a motion detector, but when the cops arrive they will see no one inside the bank and think it is glitch. I'm a sucker for bank heist pictures for some reason and this one definitely falls into that category. Unfortunately, while it has a great cast and is well made, it really takes no risks. There is some tension in the final third as rain starts to flood the sewer system and the men must rush to get out, but even that is handled rather mundanely. Sheen also sticks out like a sore thumb and it is easy to believe the role was written for a British fellow (his wife is a Brit after all) and then changed to an American to increase potential markets. Still, it is worth a look at least once if you loves you some men digging in confined spaces.

I don't think writers understand what being an architect means or how they work ...its especially clear in this film because the need for an architect is totally bogus ... being an architect sounds glamorous and exciting but its a crappy paying profession that anyone interested in making money would never take on ... an architect that designs, builds and lives in that house is as rare as finding an atmosphere on the moon

A thoughtfully planned ripoff of London's largest and most secure holding bank of the safety deposit boxes, a quite improbable venture, is basis for an action movie in this nicely finished film that successfully and consistently features valuable understatement in its script. American architect Stephen Booker (Martin Sheen), working and residing in England and married to an English woman (Susannah York), is facing a depressing future after an important contract for which he and his partner have bid is awarded to a competing consulting company, leaving Booker's firm essentially fund less and paving the way for a non standardized adventure film. The newly unemployed architect's efforts to find a new position are unsuccessful, as he is repeatedly reminded by those with oversight of the jobs for which he is applying that he is "overqualified", until he is of a suddenly hired by one Mike Daniels (Albert Finney) to design a conversion of an entire city block, an assignment that will serve to elide Stephen's rampant personal debts to his banker, played very well by Robert Morley. However, after Stephen has discovered that Daniels, his new boss, is an apparent mountebank, he resigns from his new position, thereby being forced to encounter his wife's displeasure, in addition to that of his banker, so that when Daniels, a proficient safe cracker, urges Booker to rejoin him as part of a carefully selected crew of criminal specialists organized for this bank job, Stephen decides that becoming a temporary accomplice is less intolerable than becoming increasingly destitute. And so, into mid-town London's rat infested sewer tunnels goes the skilled team of burglars toward their targeted vault, but their carefully devised heist,is fraught with unforeseen complications, realistically presented here by cast and crew. Direction is excellent, focusing upon convincing detail supplied by a well-written screenplay that avoids turgid psychodrama in favor of the mechanics of a scheme that becomes of compelling interest to a viewer who will additionally find the characters of interest simply because their innermost thoughts are not voiced, and the intriguing possibilities suggested by the climax are stimulative. Finney handily earns the acting laurels, dominating his scenes with an engaging performance as an actuating criminal specialist, and there is fine playing by all members of the talented cast, with markedly solid turns from Colin Blakely and Alfred Lynch as two of Daniels' henchmen. The superb editing of Ralph Sheldon serves to intensify this well-crafted affair, Maurice Cain for always appropriate designing, and Ian Wingrove for the special visual effects, in particular when the sewer exit route to be used by the thieves is flooded following an unfocused downpour.