There’s nothing quite like a thrilling heist movie that leaves you on edge, and Sky recently aired one of the best in the genre in recent years, No Ordinary Heist.
The film, which was released earlier this year, is heavily inspired by the 2004 Northern Bank robbery, in which the families of two separate staff members of the bank, Chris Ward and Kevin McMullan, were taken hostage. Chris and Kevin were forced to carry out the daring heist with their families’ lives being threatened.
No Ordinary Heist remains available to stream on Sky Cinema, and has proven to be a must-watch for fans of the genre.
A short synopsis for the film reads: “Inspired by the true 2004 Northern Bank robbery, two feuding bank employees are forced to execute Ireland’s biggest heist after criminals kidnap their families and threaten to kill them.”
What happened during the heist?
In total, £26.5 million was stolen from the bank’s headquarters, with the heist taking place just five days before Christmas. Initially, police blamed members of the Provisional Irish Republic Army (IRA), although they denied all culpability.
After house searches were carried out, financial adviser Roy Cunningham was found with £2.3 million in cash. Roy was subsequently charged with money laundering, and although his conviction was quashed in 2012, he was retried in 2014 and convicted again.
Roy’s conviction led to the resignation of Phil Flynn, the chairman of Northern Bank, due to having been a director of one of the companies owned by Roy.
Chris Ward was arrested in November 2005 and charged with robbery, but the trial fell apart when no evidence was offered by the prosecution.
To date, although several people have been arrested for crimes uncovered during the investigations, no one has actually been held responsible for the heist.
What did fans make of No Ordinary Heist?
One fan hailed the film, as they penned: “Set over the course of a single day, the film places its characters in an intense, high-stakes situation where survival outweighs morality. Overall, this film is a solid, character-driven thriller that succeeds because of its emotional weight and strong performances.”
A second added: “Mostly you know in the first minutes if a movie is good or bad. In this case, I knew straight away it was to be good from the camerawork and music,” while a third posted: “No Ordinary Heist is a solid and engaging take on a familiar genre, managing to stay entertaining thanks to its steady rhythm and a few clever touches. It may not reinvent anything, but it knows how to keep things fun and consistently watchable.”
However, one viewer complained: “Eddie Marsan is one of my favourite actors out there, but to cast him and accept the role was a big mistake. The Northern Irish accent is very complex and he doesn’t master it and that’s a bad and continuous annoyance.”
The Guardian’s Leslie Felperin was less complimentary about the film, commenting: “In the end it feels like the film-makers had neither the budget nor the vision to make the material sing, making for a most ordinary work.”
Who stars in No Ordinary Heist?
The daring heist film is led by Eddie Marsan (Ray Donovan) and Eanna Hardwicke (The Sixth Commandment), with the pair playing fictionalised versions of Kevin and Chris respectively.
sThey’re joined by Eva Birthistle (The Last Kingdom), Michelle Fairley (Gangs of London), Desmond Eastwood (Normal People), Patrick O’Kane (Doctor Who) and Paddy Jenkins (Blue Lights).
