Film review: West Sussex star Hugh Bonneville turns villain again in likeable Netflix tale

Downton and Paddington star Hugh Bonneville, so likeable in pretty much everything he does, is a villain again in his latest Netflix adventure – though a villain of a very different kind to the chilling Hector Blake he so sinisterly embodied in the deliciously dark I Came By. No, this time he is a more civilised baddie, the establishment banking expert Sir Charles who is prepared to play exceedingly dirty when a northern upstart threatens London’s cosy monopoly on all things banking.

Bank of Dave is the “true-ish” story of Dave Fishwick, delightfully played by Rory Kinnear as the working-class Burnley businessman and self-made millionaire who is the perfect anti-Scrooge, a man determined to lend his money out purely to help other people. Anything he makes back he gives to charity – a model that works so well that he now wants to set himself up as a bank which is when he runs into Sir Charles, a man determined that banking should remain the province of the bankers.

Dave summons a London lawyer (Joel Fry) to help him secure all the permissions he needs from the banking regulators. Which is when Sir Charles (Hugh Bonneville who lives near Midhurst) meanly intervenes, ensuring Dave gets charged with loan-sharking. A criminal record would debar him, you see. But Dave and particularly his lawyer Hugh are made of tougher stuff. We are soon in familiar territory. Fisherman’s Friends, maybe The Duke, possibly The Full Monty too – the little guy taking on the big corporations armed only with the mighty weapon of his own decency.

It’s a lovely film, sweetly done – marred only by the implausibility it tumbles into. It all comes down to a stadium full of people at a benefit rock concert all screaming for the bank to be set up. Maybe we’re just losing the plot a little here. Can you imagine anyone at a gig whooping with delight at a new bank coming into existence, however benevolent its intentions? No, not really – and nor did it actually happen. You can find endless articles online spelling out just how far Netfllix’s Bank of Dave leaves behind what actually happened. Clearly the true story was never going to be enough to sustain a film, but maybe Netflix have gone just a little bit too far the other way. Even, so, it’s a film which is essentially about kindness and community – and it delivers an appealing anti-greed message. Not that you can imagine Sir Charles taking it awfully well. It’s a shame that we didn’t get to see his apoplexy! But it is great to see Bonneville in the role, once again proving that he’s not just a brilliant actor: he’s also a very, very interesting one.