Heroic Losers: NZIFF Review

Wildly accessible, heist movie Heroic Losers is here for a good time, and nothing more.

When a group of elderly Argentines band together to pool money for a co-operative, they're stunned after handing over their life savings when the bank they've invested into collapses. 

Learning that all of their cash was taken out by a swindler, the group decides on payback....

Heroic Losers is a slickly pulled together, crowd-pleasing affair, that does exactly what it says on the tin, and little more in between.

That's not to deny it its many pleasures though - from taking notes off of Hollywood heist films, Sebastian Borensztein clearly knows what he's doing, pulling the pieces together and ending it with a crescendo of comeuppance and good vibes.

Led by Ricardo Darin, La Odisea de los Giles packs in much energy and gusto in its 2 hour run time.

Its set up and payoffs are well paced, and its tale of ordinary people against the banking criminals will hit a timely note for many.

This is escapism in its purest form, and while it's essentially a lads-only affair (albeit elderly ones), the vibe is purely flighty and fun. Popcorn festival fun doesn't come more readily than this, and that's no bad thing.

Because when the final showdown comes, you'll realise just how much you're in the losers' corner and how sweet this genial level of payback feels.