COMMUNITY CHANCE (BANK OF DAVE)

© Netflix

Everyone hates bankers - that observation is repeated like a mantra throughout Chris Foggin's Netflix movie 'Bank of Dave'.

And so the film celebrates a bank set up by a non banker.

The bank in question is the 'Bank of Dave' - an actual bank in England established by Burnley millionaire Dave Fishwick who made his fortune operating a mini coach business.

Fishwick's efforts to set up his bank were famously documented by a Channel 4 film crew.

© Netflix

Concerned that after the 2008 financial crisis the traditional high street banks were not supporting individuals and small businesses, he set about establishing a community based lender in Lancashire that personally underwrote loans and assessed all risks by thoroughly examining business cases.

Fishwick's bank has over the last 12 years lent over £27 million to the thousands of individuals and businesses in Lancashire and his model of a community based bank has drawn support from across the political spectrum.

But now it has been turned into the type of underdog tale that British filmmakers love by 'Fisherman's Friends' director Chris Foggin and screenwriter Piers Ashworth.

What you get is exactly what expect - an uncomplicated, broad brush film designed to warm the cockles of your heart while keeping an eye on your mounting heating bills on a cold winter's night.

© Netflix

Rory Kinnear plays Fishwick as a big hearted businessman who is fiercely committed to his local community.

When we first see Dave, he is belting out a Def Leppard song during a karaoke seasion in his favourite Burnley pub.

After receiving a nice return on a loan to a friend, he is struck by a remark from Darwin Taylor's Eric that he should set up his own bank.

Walking home from the pub with his wife Jo Hartley's Nicola Fishwick, Dave is smitten with the idea and decides to give it a go.

© Netflix

There has been no application to set up a bank for over 150 years but Dave engages a London law firm to help him explore the possibility.

Angus Wright's senior partner Clarence engages Joel Fry's Hugh to go up to Burnley to try and talk Dave out of the idea.

However the more he spends time with Dave and sees the financial support he has given to friends and neighbours, the more Hugh becomes seduced by the idea.

Hugh's pursuit of the concept of a community bank upsets the banking establishment with Hugh Bonneville's Sir Charles determined to do everything to prevent it.

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Dave and his lawyer take on every obstacle thrown in their way by Sir Charles and his cohort of nasty bankers.

Hugh is even betrayed by his neurotic ex Naomi Battrick's Henrietta.

But along the way, Hugh finds love with Phoebe Dynevor's accident and emergency doctor Alexandra who is hoping to set up a walk-in medical clinic with Dave's help.

Def Leppard become involved in the effort to beat the bankers, with the help of Paul Kaye's music industry figure and friend of Dave's, Rick Prudy.

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Foggin's film is not the most sophisticated comedy drama. 

Nor has it any desire to be.

It's just happy to motor along at 30 miles per hour and slowly but surely get to its destination.

It's a pleasant enough film but not that challenging but at least the cast seem to be having a good time during it.

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Kinnear and Fry make for appealing enough heroes.

The former brings a real sense of steely determination and bonhomie to the part of Fishwick.

Fry is suitably earnest as Hugh.

Bonneville and Battrick also enjoy playing the villains of the piece and may as well wear black hats to denote their nasty intentions.

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Hartley, Dynevor, Kaye, Taylor and Cathy Tyson provide solid support as Dave's wife, friends and grateful neighbours.

Wright is a wee bit toe curling, though, as the well intentioned Clarence - especially in those scenes where Foggin is trying to show he is not as stiff as you might expect. 

The director appears to be aiming for a Lancashire version of a Frank Capra movie - a kind of 'It's A Wonderful Life, In't It?'

However the film lacks the narrative ambition of 'It's A Wonderful Life' - focusing only on the present and not on what might have been.

© Netflix

And while big liberties are taken with the real 'Bank of Dave' story, what you end up with is effectively a 107 minute advert for Fishwick's bank - albeit one with a much bigger budget.

It's a pleasant diversion but is no more than that.

But it isn't a stirring call to arms to shake up the banking system either.

('Bank of Dave' was released on Netflix on January 16, 2022)