As soon as I notice a movie about a botched bank robbery, I instantly have to watch it. There’s something about this subgenre that appeals to me so much and I still don’t know what that is. The movie doesn’t have to be big and expensive, it just has to be good. And that’s exactly what we have on offer here. 70 Big Ones is a tight Spanish thriller about a woman who finds herself in the middle of a bank robbery. Just as the bank teller was approving the loan she so desperately needed, two masked gunmen entered the small branch. At first, it would appear that this is just your ordinary, run-of-the-mill bank robbery but it will turn out to be nothing but.
Okay, okay, maybe I got carried away there a little. What I wanted to say is that there will be twists and turns in this movie. This is something Spanish movies just love to do. You start with a simple premise and then slowly make things more and more complex. And those are some of my favorites. We will talk about them a bit later because I want to touch upon something else now. The original title of this movie, 70 Big Ones is 70 Binladens. No, my friends, the story has nothing to do with terrorists or anything like that as we’ll find out during the opening scene.
Binladen is slang for a 500 Euro note in Spain because “like the terrorist, everybody is talking about it but no one has seen it.” So, 70 Binladens or 70 Big Ones is 70 500 Euro notes or 35000 Euros which comes to about $40.000. With that out of the way, we can move on to the cast. The lead role of Raquel is entrusted to Emma Suarez, a beautiful and talented actress who played it perfectly. And she needed to because everything depended on her subtle and yet powerful performance. Do check her out in Pedro Almodovar’s Julieta. Here, she was smart and sexy without any tacky nudity.
Although I think most of the male audience was cheering for her to somehow lose all her clothes. Nathalie Poza and Hugo Silva were great and the same goes for the rest of the relatively unknown cast. I don’t know how familiar you are with European cinema but I still have to emphasize that 70 Big Ones looks and feels like a AAA Hollywood movie. The production values, cinematography, and sets are all excellent and convincing. I’ve already talked about the acting and just how good it is. The atmosphere in the movie is tense and full of suspense. The sudden twists and willingness to “go there” make it even more engrossing.
What I’m trying to say is that this movie will be refreshing for the fans of the genre. Especially, if you’ve seen everything Hollywood has to offer. We usually get these stereotypical characters who will go on to do stereotypical things. This is not the case here as, apart from one big exception, everyone feels more authentic. Take the bank robbers for example, I feel like these are the people who will be robbing banks and not some Oceans 11 types. Now, I know that the story might be a bit confusing at the start but don’t worry.
As time goes on, you’ll learn everything you need to know. And on top of that, we’ll have that classic “big flashback reveal montage.” You gotta love those montages. Finally, if you’re looking for movies like 70 Big Ones, you can check out La Caja 507 and To Steal From A Thief. Both are cool heist thrillers with twisting stories. Next up is La Casa de Papel AKA Money Heist, a highly popular Netflix television show. Of course, you can also check out our Subversive Rabbit list of Spanish movies worth watching. Enjoy.
Director: Koldo Serra
Writers: Javier Echániz, Juan Antonio Gil Bengoa, Asier Guerricaechebarría
Cast: Emma Suárez, Nathalie Poza, Hugo Silva, Daniel Pérez Prada, Bárbara Goenaga, Fernando Albizu
Fun Facts: 70 Big Ones was filmed in the city of Bilbao, Spain.
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IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7972178/
