King of Thieves

The headline-grabbing Hatton Garden robbery over Easter weekend in 2017 is stylishly recounted in this all-star comedy drama, though the heist itself is far from the sole focus of a film that invests its players with tangible character traits. Screenwriter Joe Penhall's script, based on newspaper and magazine articles published in the aftermath of the raid, closely examines each of the ageing perpetrator's motives and truly comes into its own when the gang bicker over the division of the loot, bringing unsettled old scores to the surface. Michael Caine gives one of his best performances in years as the pensive, recently widowed mastermind Brian Reader, resolutely adhering to the notion of honour among thieves, while Paul Whitehouse and Michael Gambon provide perfectly judged comic relief. But most striking of all is Jim Broadbent, whose cuddly, avuncular exterior gives way to a figure of genuine menace.