The Great Bank Hoax, A Fable

Directed by Joseph Jacoby, The Great Bank Hoax, A Fable follows a couple of bank employees (Burgess Meredith’s Jack and Richard Basehart’s Manny) as they conspire to cover up a fellow employee’s (Paul Sand’s Richard) embezzlement by stealing an even greater amount of money. Filmmaker Jacoby, working from his own screenplay, delivers a predominantly forgettable comedy that is, for the most part, far too subdued and low-key to make much of an impact, as the picture, which fares especially poorly in its meandering opening half hour, suffers from a low-stakes atmosphere that essentially (and effectively) prevents the viewer from working up much interest in or enthusiasm for the characters’ exploits. (It doesn’t help, either, that Jacoby’s less-than-focused sensibilities pave the way for a host of head-scratchingly inconsequential encounters and sequences.) And although the various performers periodically elevate the material, with this especially true of Sand’s entertaining turn as the perpetually befuddled Richard, The Great Bank Hoax, A Fable eventually proceeds into a twist-heavy yet thoroughly lifeless third act that’s indicative of Jacoby’s curiously (and incongruously) sedate approach to the material (ie the whole thing never becomes as frantic and frenetic as one might’ve reasonably expected) – with the end result a fairly disappointing misfire that feels as though it should be so much better.

** out of ****