Bank of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger
Rory Kinnear returns as the Robin Hood of high financiers in a feel-good sequel that’s even better than the original
Banking on Dave: Rory Kinnear (with Pearce Quigley)
Image courtesy of Netflix.
The title certainly divulges the tone of this feel-good sequel. It’s cute, just like the characters, just like the little-man-against-big-business premise, whisking the spirit of Frank Capra off to the north of England. The remarkable Dave Fishwick, friend of the ordinary working man, is a very real banker, but not as you would know from your run-of-the-mill financier. The first film to chronicle his dealings in a straightjacketed industry, the surprise Netflix hit Bank of Dave, seemed so far-fetched, so predictable and so clichéd, that a sequel seemed hardly necessary. But so long as unscrupulous banks continue to feed off the savings of the unsuspecting, then so we need a Bank of Dave 2. If anything, this story, which takes in New York and New Jersey as new locations, feels every bit as far-fetched, if less hackneyed, if only for the central presence of an unlikely friendship.
Here, though, the central character is Dave Fishwick himself, played with freewheeling, jovial bluster by Rory Kinnear, like a benign uncle nourished by unseasonably fresh air. He is the self-made millionaire who set up a community bank in Burnley, Lancashire, to serve the people, rather than his own pockets. As portrayed in the first film (also by Kinnear), he took a back seat to the nerdish financial watchdog limned by Joel Fry, through whose eyes the story was told. Fry’s subsequent romance with the comely Phoebe Dynevor could be seen a mile off, and the whole thing felt a little too pre-packaged.
Any mistakes the first film made are amended here, including a far more subtle (yet effective) score by Christian Henson, fewer cheesy northern clichés and more interesting characters. Starting off like a sequel to We Live in Time, insecure do-gooder Oliver (Amit Shah, from Mr Bates vs The Post Office) meets his new friend Jessica (Chrissy Metz) when he almost runs her down in the street. He is skinny, Asian and works for the Citizens Advice Bureau, she is anything but skinny, American and is a career-driven if rather shy financial reporter. He almost kills her, she forgives him, and they end up on the same side attempting to expose the iniquitous practise of payday loan firms. This was a very real thing, and flourished in Britain in 2014 as regulations here were less well policed than in the US, although it was American companies that exploited the loop holes. In the process, desperate citizens were being charged extortionate interest, resulting in escalating poverty, depravation and doom.
Now that Dave Fishwick is something of a celebrity, he does his share of media appearances and at the start of the film is seen in the studio alongside Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary on ITV’s This Morning. However, it’s a radio slot that opens his eyes to government-sanctioned loan sharks who can get away with charging their customers 6,000% interest. Incredible, but true. At the start, we are warned that the film is based on a true(ish) story and the later scenes do rather challenge our credulity, but are nonetheless fun for that. Many of the cast members feel entirely fresh (besides Hugh Bonneville in a welcome cameo), and Shah and Metz bring a touching individuality to their burgeoning friendship. With more than an air of the Ealing comedy about it all, The Loan Ranger is a genuine tonic, tackling real concerns with compassion and humour. And while bandying about such terms as “quantitative easing safeguards,” it has the good grace not to talk down to its audience.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Cast: Rory Kinnear, Chrissy Metz, Amit Shah, Jo Hartley, Dan Fogler, Rob Delaney, Leila Farzad, Pearce Quigley, Alison Hammond, Dermot O’Leary, Ella Bruccoleri, Jaimi Barbakoff, Liz Thompson, Dave Fishwick, Hugh Bonneville.
Dir Chris Foggin, Pro Lauren Cox and Piers Tempest, Ex Pro Rory Kinnear, Screenplay Piers Ashworth, Ph Mike Stern Sterzynski, Pro Des Andy Holden-Stokes, Ed Mark Thornton, Music Christian Henson, Costumes Lance Milligan, Sound Adam Armitage, Dialect coach Anne Mignon Whitaker.
Netflix/Ingenious/Future Artists Entertainment Film/Tempo-Netflix.
103 mins. UK. 2024. UK Rel: 10 January 2025. Cert. 12.
