Samuel L. Jackson, Nicholas Hoult, and Anthony Mackie in ‘The Banker’.
Directed by: George Nolfi
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Samuel L. Jackson, Nicholas Hoult and Nia Long
This film follows the true story of Bernard S. Garrett (Anthony Mackie), a black business man who achieved great success in banking and real estate ventures in the 50’s and 60’s, despite the institutional racism of the time. In spite of the original story, the film chooses to focus on the intricacies and numbers of real estate and banking instead of Garrett’s important and powerful role.
Mackie plays Garrett as a strait-laced numbers whiz who wants to succeed in real estate. Garrett moves out to Los Angeles with his wife Eunice (Nia Long) in an effort to help black people buy houses and open new businesses. After a few mistrials Garrett teams up with Joe Morris (Samuel L. Jackson), an exuberant businessman who is willing to invest in Garrett’s idea.
Shortly thereafter, Garrett and Morris succeed at helping black people open new businesses and integrate into white-only neighborhoods. Then, Garrett decides to capitalize on the success by buying a bank in order to give more loans out. Garrett utilizes his worker friend, Matt (Nicholas Hoult), to pose as the buyer of the bank in order to bypass the discrimination they would have faced.
The film then serves up some amusing “Pretty Woman” montages of Garrett and Morris trying to give Matt a white-collar makeover. These montages also begin to introduce a lot of numbers and banking equations that the film devotes too much screen time to. It is after this first act that the feature begins to lose focus of the story it is trying to tell. Matt’s story and development receive an abundant amount of undue screen time that could have been better spent elsewhere.
“The Banker” works best when Mackie and Jackson share the screen. Jackson’s eccentric womanizing take on Morris plays extremely well off of Mackie’s straight-faced interpretation of Garrett. Their interactions help keep the film interesting in the face of its slow pacing.
The film ultimately buries Garrett’s inspirational story beneath unnecessary subplots that don’t contribute to the message of the film. The feature included great elements, such as acting and story, but did not succeed at showcasing them. Overall, “The Banker” boasted a great set-up, but fizzled the execution.
