Born in March 1955, Scott Scurlock, aka Hollywood, committed a series of crimes that primarily focused on bank robberies and catching him seemed like an impossible task…once upon a time. Now, Netflix has a documentary released on Scurlock’s life and crimes titled – How to Rob a Bank. Spoiler alert: this documentary on the streaming platform doesn’t give you any tips and tricks for actually robbing a bank.
Now that we have the major spoiler out of the way, let’s take a look at How to Rob a Bank, which is yet another addition to the endless titles of documentaries and docuseries that are streaming on Netflix.
Every other month, Netflix goes out of its way to bring something new and unique for the viewers who are subscribed to the platform, and they have done it once again.
A Glimpse at the Hollywood Bandit
The USA has seen a variety of criminals over the decades, each different from the other, and Netflix has often picked up some of them and turned the story of their lives and crimes into documentaries or docuseries. However, more often than not, there are people like Jeffery Dahmer or Ted Bundy who make it to Netflix, and Scott Scurlock doesn’t fit the serial killer or heinous murder category.
But, this can only mean that Scurlock’s crimes stood out in some, which were unique enough to make it to the small screen in the form of a documentary, with a run time of just under 90 minutes. How to Rob a Bank is a quick and breezy watch with plenty of information about Scurlock, who was nicknamed “Hollywood.”
Scurlock and his crimes were consecutive bank robberies, which started off as a small amount but soon grew. He also took inspiration from movies like Point Break, and this part is often recalled in this documentary, throughout several interviews, ranging from people who were on Scurlock’s case, and those who were also his friends and knew him personally.
How to Rob a Bank is like any other documentary, only a little more tame compared to the true-crime documentaries viewers might be used to. There’s no cult, there are no dead bodies in the freezer, there is simply a man and his crimes committed with the help of some creativity. Nevertheless, this documentary is a fun and curious watch.
One element of How to Rob a Bank that we really enjoyed was the animation used throughout, which elevated the documentary in ways we couldn’t have predicted. Of course, there was archival footage present, but it was fairly limited. So, using animation was a rather creative way to keep the viewers engaged, and it surely helped.
Conclusion
If you are a fan of true-crime documentaries, we would highly recommend watching How to Rob a Bank, especially if you can’t stomach gory scenes or gunshot wounds. Do let us know in the comments what you thought about this documentary, now streaming on Netflix!