‘Chasing Millions’: Irish-Aussie Dark Comedy On Record-Breaking Bank Heist Falls Flat

Chasing Millions is an Irish Australian dark comedy inspired by Belfast’s 2004 Northern Bank £26.5 million robbery which is still the biggest bank heist in British and Irish history. The bank was owned by National Australia Bank at the time.

Directed by Stephen Burke the cast is headed by Christopher Eccleston as a Northern Irish detective named Crayford and Madeleine Madden as Diana, a young Australian police officer who travels to Belfast on family business and becomes attached to the case.

Loosely inspired by true events, audiences will learn quickly that most of the storylines in this film are fictional when shortly after the opening credits ‘the more unbelievable bits are true’ appears on the screen.

There never was an Australian police officer nor the developing storyline of the buddy-cop relationship which builds between these two law-enforcers. This element of the story was simply created for comedic relief.

However, what was historically correct was that two bank official’s families were held hostage and the staff were coerced to disguise crates of money as rubbish. The heist was described as organised with military precision.

After watching this film, the more discerning audiences may ponder whether this would have worked best as a factual recreated drama. The comedy felt contrived, mildly funny and silly at times. Much of the humour backfired and diminished the tension in the dramatic scenes which followed.

Noticeable was the awkwardness amongst the actors when a joke which was supposed to be funny fell flat and then had to immediately be dramatic in the next scene. Nailing comedy is harder than any other genre as exemplified in this film.

The performances were respectable but the chemistry between the two pivotal characters was absent, possibly because of the age difference. Crayford was much older, grumpy and unhelpful, and Diana was confident and tried to prove herself by solving the case. Since much of the story was fictional the pairing of two young buddy-cops may have worked best.

The absence of a full musical score with occasional injections of incidental music simply left the film feeling slow-paced, lifeless and unengaging – the comedic sequences feeling awkward and the dramatic effect somewhat diminished.

Moviegoers who enjoy American produced heist flicks and expect bigger and slicker films such as Ocean’s Eleven and Heat may find Chasing Millions quite underwhelming. There’s minimal action, the plot is overcomplicated and much of the film sags.

It’s not a total cinematic train wreck but expectations were high. Ultimately, it’s just a very average film.

**1/2

In Cinemas November 19