The presence of Jason Statham in a movie usually means one thing: Someone's on the receiving end of a beat-down or two.

Or, in such movies as "The Transporter" and "Crank," a lot more.

His latest film, "The Bank Job," doesn't disappoint on that score. But, unlike so many Statham movies whose only saving grace is his martial-arts and fighting abilities, "The Bank Job" has a few other redeeming qualities.

Based on a true story of a 1971 British bank heist, the film is an innocuous, occasionally suspenseful, fast-paced thriller that whizzes by before it has a chance to wear out its welcome.

Statham is Terry, a low-rent thug who runs a chop shop on one of London's less tony streets. He owes money to some local mobsters, so he's receptive when an old flame, Martine (Saffron Burrows), approaches him and his cronies with a proposition from a well-funded friend: Tunnel into the safe-deposit boxes of a neighborhood bank, turn over what's inside a particular box to the friend, and the rest is theirs.

With visions of pounds sterling dancing in their eyes, Terry and his ragtag crew - including the erudite Guy (James Faulkner), part-time porn star Dave (Daniel Mays) and impressionable Eddie (Michael Jibson) - put their plan into motion. Little do they know, though, how politically explosive the contents of the box are, nor how they relate to radical activist Hakim Jamal (Colin Salmon), who supplements his lofty, revolutionary rhetoric with down-and-dirty pimping and hustling.

To add further complications, law enforcement is split between those who are in on various levels of the shenanigans - such as the debonair yet dubious Scotland Yard official Tim Everett (Richard Lintern) - and honest cops out to just do a good day's work. Terry and friends soon realize that they may have stumbled into something that's just a bit more than a simple burglary.

Directed with crisp efficiency by Roger Donaldson - who's done such previous thrillers as "No Way Out," "The Getaway," "Thirteen Days" and, what some might consider his matinee masterwork, "Species" - "The Bank Job" doesn't feel like as much of a lark as similar films like "The Italian Job" (which also co-starred Statham), but it doesn't take itself too seriously either. "The Usual Suspects" it's not.

(Many people may not know that it was Donaldson, not Peter Jackson, who first brought attention to New Zealand cinema way back in the late '70s/early '80s with the films "Sleeping Dogs" and "Smash Palace.")

The supporting cast is generally strong, though Burrows, playing a seductress, should make more of an impression than she does. Statham, obviously trying to evolve his limited Cro-Magnon range, does an adequate job, though he stills seems more comfortable when serving up a healthy slice of knuckle sandwich - which doesn't happen here nearly as often as in his usual multiplex fare.

Speaking of which, Statham isn't totally turning his back on his past. His next projects? "Crank 2: High Voltage" and "Transporter 3."

Get showtimes and movie details for "The Bank Job."