The family that steals together stays together in this satiric British comedy. After a fire destroys her home, Bernadette James (Helen McCrory) gathers up her four children and leaves Edinburgh for London, hoping to locate her not-especially-responsible and currently-absent husband, Spendlove (John Hannah). Spendlove, as usual, turns out to be in no position to help them and is prepared to give up the marriage when Bernadette, in a fit of pique, robs a jewelry store, using her children as decoys. While the James family is now on the run, Bernadette has finally discovered a skill that can be used to support her children; she soon moves up to stealing cars and pulling daring (and lucrative) robberies in broad daylight, with hubby and the kids helping out. However, Spendlove doesn't have the stomach for a life of crime and wants to bail out, while police detective Julia Armstrong (Toni Collette) is determined to put the criminal family behind bars. Spendlove's brother (Jason Flemyng) soon joins in the James family's life of crime as the police's web tightens around them.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide