Ned Beatty

(On Cable TV, September 2019) The fun of low-key comedy film The Great Bank Hoax begins as the managers of a small-town bank discover that a hundred thousand dollars are missing from their ledger. Who took it? No clue. But what’s for sure is that the error has to be fixed quickly, otherwise word will get out and the bank will be in trouble. Ned Beatty is probably the best-known name in the cast, but don’t worry: this is the kind of plot-driven film that doesn’t need headliners to be enjoyable. And there’s quite a bit of plot to go through, with a young and easily seduced bank officer getting tangled up in the machinations of two women who want money, the bank officials cooking up a scheme of their own to get back in the black, and carefully plotted schemes blowing up in everyone’s faces. The portrait of a small Georgia town is convincing, and it works even better given that it means that the entire story plays within a carefully delineated setting, with everyone knowing nearly everyone to complicate things even more. It wraps up with a smile, which is the bare minimum we expected. I’m probably too detached from 1977 to catch the social satire that other reviewers have noted. Writer-director Joseph Jacoby probably could have tightened up a few things — as it plays, The Great Bank Hoax is more of an amiable than a funny affair. But in that, it does seem to reflect the none-too-fast atmosphere of its setting, and the slightly crooked nature of its genial characters. Not necessarily a gem, but not entirely deserving of its current obscurity.