The Banker; The Third Act was a Failed Loan Investment Indeed. Grade: C

Oh great another thirty days required in quarantine, which means thirty more days of no movie theaters.... I HATE THIS!! Well now that I’m here, let’s talk about movies shall we? The Banker is Apple Plus’ first full length feature film of 2020... Apple making movies now... 2020!

Tells a story of a business man named Bernard Garrett (Anthony Mackie) whom as a young child was great with numbers. Bernard got in a groove at a Real Estate Firm, unfortunately his boss whom wasn’t a racist asshole died. So Bernard had to sell back his houses he owned, due to the fact the boss’ widow doesn’t do business with people of his race. Bernard came up with an idea to receive business, by hiring one of his land workers Matt Steiner (Nicholas Hoult) whom was best for the job due to the fact he is a Caucasian man. Witness an oddly fascinating story on a man that never gave up on the American dream, no matter the doubts he had against him due to the color of his skin.

Cinematography was alright, I honestly didn’t think it captured the time period the film was in. Plus sometimes I felt like I was watching a video game... It just reminded of those games, where they have actual scenes of people talking in an office, it resembles that kind of look which was kind of distracting. The Score was pretty forgettable, nothing about the composed music was special at all. The cast in this film all in all was fine. Anthony Mackie playing Bernard Garrett was fine, he had some strong moments here and there, then there were moments where he honestly was over acting. Especially that one scene in the third act, where I honestly couldn’t take it seriously and started laughing... That shouldn’t happened during a crucial moment for our lead character. I think the character written for Bernard Garrett was solid, he was an intriguing young man that loved numbers and wanted to do the right thing for others in his position, that always dreamt of having the American dream but was restricted due to segregation. I felt the film could’ve done more with this character, would’ve liked to see where his aspirations of being highly invested in numbers came from, plus how he got into real estate during his young humble years, rather than just skim that over. Samuel L Jackson playing Garrett’s colleague Joe Morris was fine, a typical Samuel L Jackson performance. There were some scenes where he just didn’t care and for a positive, I got a nice laugh out of it so that was nice at least. Matt Steiner played by Nicholas Hoult t’was good, there were a couple moments he struggled in a couple scenes. Also at first I enjoyed Matt Steiner as a character, but then after awhile he started to get on my nerves. Made too many bumbling decision making, where you honestly don’t know where this characters head is at. Plus I felt he was very careless at the end, I get he’s just a hard worker and not book smarts, but sheesh how about take a second and strategize will ya, a very infuriating character.

The Banker for the first two acts I felt were enjoyably average. There was a fair amount of interest in the story, as I’m intrigued with numbers myself, also the storyline was indeed goofy but it’s a fascinating tale for the first two acts. Then we get to the third act which honestly left me very disappointed. I can’t tell if the film makers ran out of money because it all felt completely rushed. There are points in this third act where the film actually keeps repeating the same notion over and over again. I also didn’t like the new characters or the performances whom partakes in the lawsuit... It was pretty terrible. In order for this film to go off on a nice note, you have to take this entire ending seriously. It’s an important end, which requires Garrett to make a powerful statement at court. When it’s wrapped up... It just left me unsatisfied. Like they rushed Garrett’s powerful speech and then it cuts to some title credits... How can you butcher a powerful moment like that is beyond me. Speaking of title sequences: The title sequences in the beginning of this film is atrocious, it reminds me of my YouTube videos that I make off of IMovie. I probably would excuse it if it was a student film... But this is a big budgeted project, with well known actors, why are you being so lazy with the title sequences?! Another thing is the film feels very formulated, like I’ve seen films of this caliber before, only done much much better. For a film that is two hours long, did it needed to be two hours long?! I say the two hour notion is acceptable, but what the film provided for us in the running time, it could’ve been adjusted. This film should’ve had Garrett the center point and not have him shared in three ways with the other two supporting characters. I rather have learned more about Garrett, than learn about the other supporting characters honestly... Especially when one of them is infuriating to watch later down the road. I don’t think The Banker is bad or anything, as a storyline it is important towards history and has some entertainment value... But as a final product, I expected more out of this, felt unspecial and bland for my taste.

Overall, The Banker is just ok. If you want to check this one out on Apple Plus I guess go for it, it is not worth an Apple Plus Subscription for those asking. -Mitch Smietana