Bank of Dave (2023)

Plot of Bank of Dave: Dave Fishwick is a successful millionaire van salesman with a heart of gold. As well as selling vans he has found himself lending money to good causes, and wishes to formalise the arrangement by starting a bank in Burnley. He contacts a law firm in London and as a result young lawyer, Hugh Stockwell, is sent, reluctantly, North. He is charmed by Dave and is attracted by Alexandra, Dave’s daughter who is a local doctor campaigning for a clinic. As he and Dave try to progress the application they come up with obstacles, and back in London Hugh gets an interview with an important banker, but tells a young woman of his acquaintance what’s going on which results in action being taken by the establishment to discredit Dave. He is taken to court for illegal financial activity, so can he be saved, and will good win out in the end?

Content: No sex or nudity but quite a bit of drinking as much time is spent in the local pub. Hugh and Dave spend time in Dave’s office. We see Alexandra trying to persuade the council to sponsor the clinic. The bankers meet to try to shut Dave down. They go to court where Hugh has the task of saving Dave from getting a criminal record, which would prevent him ever owning a bank. Hugh is offered a job heading up a hedge fund, is he being bought off? There is a financial problem which is saved by having a Def Leppard concert in the Burnley stadium.

A View: I enjoyed this film a lot. It is unpretentious entertainment held together by Rory Kinnear as Dave, the charming honest car dealer – almost an oxymoron. If it has a weakness it is the Def Leppard concert. My wife had never even heard of them and they come from Sheffield, not Burnley so I could not really imagine them filling a stadium. But all in all well worth an hour and a half of your time.

Fun Fact: Rory Kinnear and Joel Fry sang their own songs – quite successfully – in the Karaoke events.