Review: Mackie leads a little-known story in ‘The Banker'

“ The Banker ” is an odd title for this film. It has the effect of underselling a fascinating story about a black business savant that was inspired by real events. In the 1950s and early 1960s, Bernard Garrett (Anthony Mackie) became a real estate mogul in Los Angeles and (eventually) the owner of a bank in his Texas hometown at a time when all the cards were stacked against him. At the very least, “The Banker” doesn’t seem like the best way to describe Bernard, his accomplishments or even reflect what it's is about: the de facto and legal ways that African American were excluded from fairly participating in real estate and business.

That’s all to say, don’t let it dissuade you from giving this solid film a chance when it hits AppleTV Plus on Friday. Directed by George Nolfi (“The Adjustment Bureau”), “The Banker” is a fairly traditional biopic with a civil rights bent and some caper elements. With lush period costuming and a terrific cast, including Mackie, Samuel L. Jackson as his business partner Joe Morris, Nia Long as Bernard’s wife Eunice and Nicholas Hoult, it might just be the perfect easy watch for anyone looking for fresh streaming content.

We’re introduced to Bernard as a precocious youngster living in 1930s Texas. He's ambitious and self-taught and eavesdrops on the men whose shoes he’s shining to learn some business acumen. His father commends his intellect but advises him to dream smaller.

This image released by Apple TV Plus shows Nicholas Hoult, from left, Samuel L. Jackson, and Anthony Mackie in a scene from "The Banker." (Apple TV Plus via AP)

The film then cuts to 1954 Los Angeles where Bernard, always bedecked in a well-fitted suit, goes on the hunt for investment properties. “No” is a word he hears often, until he meets Patrick Barker, an Irish property owner played by Colm Meaney, who sees potential in Bernard’s strategy of buying properties in white neighborhoods that are adjacent to black neighborhoods and gives him a chance.

They start doing business together, but there’s a catch: Although Bernard has all the good ideas, he’s forced to stay in the shadows of every deal knowing that his skin color would be a deal-breaker for many in 1950s Los Angeles. When his partnership with Patrick comes to an end, he and Joe Morris have to essentially Eliza Doolittle a white working class youngster (Hoult’s Matt Steiner) — who barely knows how to add — to be the face of their real estate empire. Joe, Eunice and Bernard teach Matt sophistication in a particularly amusing section of the film: How to golf, how to eat shellfish, how to drink nice scotch and how to negotiate deals with captains of industry.

It’s invigorating at first watching Bernard and Joe play puppet master in order to buy the building that houses the bank Bernard couldn’t even get a meeting with. The plan works and they’re all getting rich. But their scheme starts to get away from them as Bernard’s ambitions grow and Matt pushes for some actual responsibility (thanks in no part to a one-dimensional gold-digging wife). Getting rich isn’t Bernard’s only goal after all: He also wants to affect change for black people in the United States. Unfortunately, he underestimates just how vindictive the establishment in Texas is when they find out that he’s the real owner of the bank.

This image released by Apple TV Plus shows Samuel L. Jackson, right, and Anthony Mackie in a scene from "The Banker." (Apple TV Plus via AP)

The engine of the film slows to a half in these Texas scenes, perhaps because it decides to shift much of its focus to Matt and by that point, you’re merely watching everything that they’ve built crumble. By the time the credits roll, you feel like you never exactly got to know anything deeper than surface level about Bernard and Joe.

“The Banker” was supposed to come out in theaters at the end of last year, a late-game, long-shot awards hopeful, that was pulled when accusations of misconduct were levied against Bernard Garrett Jr., a producer on the film, by his half-sister. His name was removed from the credits, but two of Bernard Sr.’s wives who are not depicted in the film then took issue with the accuracy of the story and timeline. The filmmakers responded that the story is based on Garrett’s own audio recordings from 1955.

That truth might never come to light, but taken on its own, “The Banker” is a pleasant watch. And who wouldn’t benefit from a little Mackie and Jackson banter right now?

This image released by Apple TV Plus shows Samuel L. Jackson, left, and Anthony Mackie in a scene from "The Banker." (Apple TV Plus via AP)

“The Banker,” an AppleTV+ release is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for “some strong language including a sexual reference and racial epithets and smoking throughout.” Running time 120 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

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MPAA Definition of PG-13: Parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

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Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia and Indonesia have become the first countries to block Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Elon Musk's company xAI, as concerns grew among global authorities that it was being misused to generate sexually explicit and nonconsensual images.

The moves reflect growing scrutiny of generative AI tools that can produce realistic images, sound and text and concern that existing safeguards are failing to prevent their abuse. The Grok chatbot, which is accessed through Musk’s social media platform X, has been criticized for generating manipulated images, including depictions of women in bikinis or sexually explicit poses, as well as images involving children.

Last week, Grok limited image generation and editing to paying users following a global backlash over sexualized deepfakes of people, but critics say it didn’t fully address the problem.

An emailed request for comment by The Associated Press to xAI resulted in an automated reply from the media support email address which stated, “Legacy Media Lies.” This was the same message received from a different email when asked for comment regarding the global backlash.

Regulators in the two Southeast Asian nations said that existing controls weren't preventing the creation and spread of fake pornographic content, particularly involving women and minors. Indonesia’s government temporarily blocked access to Grok on Saturday, followed by Malaysia on Sunday.

"The government sees nonconsensual sexual deepfakes as a serious violation of human rights, dignity and the safety of citizens in the digital space,” Indonesian Communication and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid said in a statement Saturday.

The ministry said the measure was intended to protect women, children and the broader community from fake pornographic content generated using AI.

Initial findings showed that Grok lacks effective safeguards to stop users from creating and distributing pornographic content based on real photos of Indonesian residents, Alexander Sabar, director-general of digital space supervision, said in a separate statement. He said that such practices risk violating privacy and image rights when photos are manipulated or shared without consent, causing psychological, social and reputational harm.

In Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission ordered a temporary restriction on Grok on Sunday, after what it said was “repeated misuse” of the tool to generate obscene, sexually explicit and nonconsensual manipulated images, including content involving women and minors.

The regulator said that notices issued this month to X Corp. and xAI demanding stronger safeguards drew responses that relied mainly on user reporting mechanisms.

“The restriction is imposed as a preventive and proportionate measure while legal and regulatory processes are ongoing,” it said, adding that access will remain blocked until effective safeguards are put in place.

Launched in 2023, Grok is free to use on X. Users can ask it questions on the social media platform and tag posts they’ve directly created or replies to posts from other users. Last summer, the company added an image generator feature, Grok Imagine, that included a so-called spicy mode that can generate adult content.

The Southeast Asian restrictions come amid mounting scrutiny of Grok elsewhere, including in the European Union, the United Kingdom, India and France.

On Monday, the U.K.'s media regulator said that it launched a formal investigation into whether Grok “complied with its duties to protect people in the U.K. from content that is illegal.”

The regulator, Ofcom, said that Grok-generated images of children being sexualized or people being undressed may amount to pornography or child sexual abuse material.

“The content created and shared using Grok in recent days has been deeply disturbing," Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said.

Edna Tarigan reported from Jakarta, Indonesia.

FILE - Workers install lighting on an "X" sign atop the company headquarters, formerly known as Twitter, in downtown San Francisco, July 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)

FILE - Elon Musk listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference in the Oval Office of the White House, May 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)