Great Bookie Robbery, The (TV Mini Series)

Australia 1986, 270 minutes
Dir. Mark Joffe
Rating: [M]
Genres: Television, Action/Adventure / Heist

Feat. John Bach, Bruno Lawrence, Andy Anderson, Gary Sweet, Gary Day, Rebecca Gibney

Aroview: Classic heist drama based on a multi-million dollar robbery in 1976 Melbourne, and re-enacted by the cream of New Zealand's acting talent.

Tension builds slowly but surely, with a gritty sureness of touch that distinguishes this effort in familiar territory. Bach excels as the cold-eyed leader of his crew (in one of his few lead roles), teaming up with Lawrence, who plays a trigger-happy police fugitive. Like the films of Michael Mann (HEAT), this concentrates not only criminal methods and subcultures, but also brings to the foreground family conflicts and pressures.

All the more compelling in that most of the characters are based on real-life Melbourne gangsters of the 1970s.