A One Mann’s Movies review of “Bank of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger” (2025).
As a pleasant, wholesome and uplifting film, 2023’s “Bank of Dave” ticked all of the boxes and got my vote (well, 3.5/5 worth of vote). Not wishing to let a gift horse go out to pasture, Netflix have doubled down with a second film about the real(-ish)-life financial adventures of Dave Fishwick. But, sadly, “Bank of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger” falls into the category of ‘trying too hard to emulate the first film’.
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
“Bank of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger” Plot Summary:
It’s 2 years after Dave Fishwick opened his new community bank. He is concerned at the number of the Burnley residents suffering at the hands of vicious pay-day lenders and decides to take action.
Certification:
UK: 12; US: NR. (From the BBFC web site: “Language”.)
Talent:
Starring: Rory Kinnear, Jo Hartley, Amit Shah, Chrissy Metz, Ella Bruccoleri, Liz Thompson, Rob Delaney, Leila Farzad, Hugh Bonneville.
Directed by: Chris Foggin
Written by: Piers Ashworth.
Running Time: 1h 44m.
“Bank of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger” Summary:
Positives:
- It has the same ‘good guys getting one over on evil corporations’ vibe.
- Rory Kinnear and Jo Hartley are a likable and ever-watchable pairing.
Negatives:
- Painfully tries to shoehorn in the elements of the first film like a deranged tick-list.
- The romantic relationship doesn’t strike true.
- What happened to Hugh and Alexandra?
Review of “Bank of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger”:
Battling the evil empires.
The theme of this one concerns the dreadful antics of payday loan companies, charging regular folks crippling rates of interest such that a tiny loan turns into an insummountable mountain of debt. (They really were the scum of the earth.) Here, the names have been changed to protect the guilty, but the targets are clear. In this (“true-ish”) plot, some of the offending companies are owned by a New Jersey gangster, Carlo Mancini (Rob Delaney). Carlo takes offense at the attack on his cash-cow and employs the UK lawyer Margot (Leila Farzad) as a ‘fixer’. She deploys a barrage of dirty tricks to bring Dave down.
All of this makes for a vaguely entertaining watch as the fun, if totally implausible, plot-line sees Dave travels to the US to serve a subpoena on the witless Mancini.
Solid acting and some terrible cameos!
Once again, Rory Kinnear plays an endearing Dave and the ever-believable Jo Hartley plays his long-suffering but loyal wife. They hold the film together and really give it its much-needed heart.
At the other end of the scale is Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond who come across as incredibly false as they interview Dave on the set of “This Morning”. I find it really incredible how two people who do this same thing day in and day out for a living can suddenly appear so wooden when they are told it is being filmed for a movie rather than live TV!
Force fitting things that once worked.
This is one of the worst examples I’ve seen recently of a sequel that RELENTLESSLY tries to force fit every element of the successful first film into the format of the second one. It’s really quite painful to watch.
- We yet again hear Dave (and occasionally other members of the cast) bashing out kareaoke tunes. But this time, the songs are so utterly random – a country and western song that I, for one, have never heard of! But of course, everyone in the bar knows it all word perfect!
- There is a romantic relationship between two of the people involved in the case that doesn’t remotely ring true (discussed further below).
- Hugh Bonneville pops up for a brief cameo, this time as a helpful banker (right!). Clearly, Bonneville’s agent thought his PR could do with a flip of the baddie image and/or the producers thought “well, he was a star that people liked in the last one”. It’s horribly false and poorly written.
- There was a Burnley-based court case in the last one…. so obviously we have to have one of those again here.
- And Def Leppard were in the finale of the last one. So, however unlikely it is in the plot, let’s cram the old-timers back into the last reel of this one too!
That relationship.
This time around, we have a developing relationship between Citizens Advice Bureau goody-two-shoes Oliver (Amit Shah) and sassy New York reporter Jessica (Chrissy Metz). But I just didn’t believe in the romance. And before I get attacked for being ‘sizeist’, this has little to do with the fact that Oliver is as skinny as a rake and Jessica is plus-sized: I know that true love can come in ALL shapes and sizes. It’s just that I’m afraid, for all of the acting that the pair throw at it, the pair have little chemistry together. The film uses a (near) car accident to drive the same cute-meet as Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield did in the wonderful “We Live In Time“. But whereas that felt just light and glorious, this just felt plain cringey.
And talking of relationships….
I was left wondering what happened to Hugh (Joel Fry) and Alexandra (Phoebe Dynevor) (who was Dave’s niece). At the end of the last film, Hugh waved goodbye to the high-life of London to wed Alexandra and live in Burnley. But, roll-forward two years, and there is no trace of them in this film! There’s not even a reference to them “having a lovely three month round-the-world trip” to explain their absence!
Summary Thoughts on “Bank of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger”
It’s still a gentle and unchallenging watch, but it feels so much more forced and artificial than last time. A disappointment.
Where to Watch it (Powered by Justwatch)
Trailer for “Bank of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhCBEfLwEr4.
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