Former Bank Robber Praises Michael Bay’s Heist Action Movie As “Pretty Accurate”

A former bank robber is praising Michael Bay’s heist action movie Ambulance as being “pretty accurate.” Released in 2022, the film follows adoptive brothers Danny (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Will (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), who hijack an ambulance in order to escape a robbery gone wrong. Despite a disappointing box office performance, the movie garnered positive reactions, and many audiences praised its action sequences, including what happened inside the bank. In addition to Gyllenhaal and Abdul-Mateen, Ambulance stars Eiza González, Garret Dillahunt, Keir O’Donnell, and Jackson White.

In a recent video from Insider, former bank robber Cain Vincent Dyer discussed the accuracy of Ambulance‘s heist scene. He pointed out the way Danny interacted with different characters, and how his demeanor would change. He also explained that problems can arise, and there may be instances where police officers anticipate potential criminal activity. Read Dyer’s comments regarding that sequence in Ambulance below:

I’ve gone into banks yelling to take control. When I actually talk to bank employees one-on-one, when I’m instructing them to do something, it’s in a very soft tone. That ability to adapt to a situation. And you see the difference between when he’s in the bank talking to customers and then when he switches his personality to deal with the police officer.

The car not working in that scene. You’d like to think that you’d have a perfectly operational vehicle when you go do a bank robbery. But, hey, things happen sometimes. I actually think that is where you have a lot of bank robbers leave the car going, or they’ll park right in front. There’s less effort in getting in and starting up the car. They can just get in and go.

We see that there are undercover police officers outside casing the bank also and waiting. Years later, when I turned myself in, I was told that they would actually do that. The special FBI agent who was attached to my case, he would put teams together, and they would go sit in front of banks and case banks looking for me to see if I was either casing a bank or robbing a bank. And it was all guessing work for them because I wouldn’t leave too much of a road map for them. But it is something that absolutely happens when they have bigger gangs that are doing multiple robberies or multiple robberies have happened within an area in a short time. There’s a lot of special effects in there and things like that, but it’s pretty accurate.

What Happens In Ambulance’s Robbery Scene?

Ambulance contains a lot of thrilling moments, including the bank robbery scene, which only occurred because Will was unable to afford his wife’s surgery. At LA Federal, Danny pretended to be the manager in charge when police officer Zach (White) approached the building, but after getting caught, he pulled a gun on him. Gyllenhaal’s character altered his behavior a bit once the situation got out of hand, and during the ensuing chaos, he and Will took Zach hostage, fleeing through the bank as members of their team were killed.

Dyer noted that plans could go wrong, and that undercover cops might already be on site, which presented challenges for Danny and Will in Ambulance. After paramedic Cam Thompson (González) loaded Zach, who got shot by Will, into the titular vehicle, the brothers hijacked and used it to finally leave the bank. They were also able to dodge police officers, forcing Cam to assert that she needed to get to a hospital.

It’s interesting to hear Dyer speak on his own experience, and that overall, Ambulance‘s depiction of a bank heist was close to accurate. There are more action scenes following Danny and Will’s eventual escape, and in the end of Ambulance, the two do not get out unscathed. That likely adds to the realistic approach of the movie though, as both faced the consequences of their actions.

Source: Insider