Bandits (2001)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Must See Movie...

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Bandits (2001): Dir: Barry Levinson / Cast: Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Cate Blanchett, Troy Garity, January Jones: Title represents Cate Blanchett and the irony that nobody knows what she is really doing. Flashbacks narrate as Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton are surrounded by police in a bank where hostages are taken. Upon escaping from prison they rob banks using a magic marker. They take bank managers hostage the night before and rob the bank the following morning. This has the media tagging them as the "Sleepover Bandits." They meet Blanchett, a dysfunctional housewife who feels unappreciated by her workaholic husband and bratty children. She joins the bandits for excitement but media see her as a victim. This leads to a very violent climax. Director Barry Levinson plays off the humour effectively. His resume contains such titles as Rain Man and Wag the Dog. Willis and Thornton are well cast with Blanchett in fine comic flair. Blanchett will end up in a romantic triangle with both parties but it is the deception that eventually wins out that keep this film from greatness. Troy Garity plays a brainless stunt guy who acts as their getaway. The big downfall is the idiots they attempt to rob who play off the media. While special effects are familiar, the film points out destructive nature of particular lifestyles as well as the media's ability to exaggerate it. Score: 5 ½ / 10

"Bandits" is one of those comedies where everything is so perfect that it is just a joy to watch. That feeling of enjoyment is from a clever plot, and acting and directing that never lets the story become a farce.The writing, directing (Baltimore's Barry Levenson) and acting are all superb. I particularly appreciated Cate Blanchet's performance as Kate Wheeler, an unappreciated gorgeous wife in despair because she has prepared a fabulous gourmet dinner and then her dolt of a husband decides to skip dinner. (I recently saw a serious drama, "The Man Who Cried," in which Cate Blanchett was also terrific. She hadn't come to my attention previously.) Billy Bob Thornton also was great as a neurotic convict/bank robber, and Bruce Willis uses a tough guy persona that has worked exceedingly well in such previous films as "Pulp Fiction." The plot, derived from a true criminal case, is about a pair of convict buddies who break out of prison and begin robbing banks to finance their dream of a plush retirement in Mexico. But they don't like the dangers that ordinary bank robbers risk, so they come up with a novel approach of getting the bank managers to let them into rob the banks in the morning before the bank is open to customers. But when Cate Blanchett's character enters their life, a romantic conflict ensues. Troy Garity is very good as an easily distracted movie stunt man (I don't recall if he was a friend or relative) in need of some excitement who jumps at the opportunity to drive the bank robbers' get-away-car.The story is told as a narrative reflecting back on the events that led up to the narration's current time. The end has a surprise twist that I was able to guess because of something included earlier in the film.If you are old enough or fortunate enough to have seen Alex Guiness' 1950's era classic crime comedies, "The Ladykillers" and "The Lavender Hill Mob," I think you will find that "Bandits" brings them to mind, despite "Bandits" being a less broad form of comedy.

It's not a film that's about the direction or the plot or anything technical. This film relies solely on the relationship between it's characters and boy does it succeed. Most of this is due to the great performances from Willis, Thornton and Blanchett who all come together perfectly with hilarious chemistry and they manage to pull the romantic scenes off quite well also. Cate Blanchett is the highlight of the film for me and it's probably my favorite performance of hers just because of how willing she is to just throw herself out there and be as insane as possible. Billy Bob Thornton being cast as the paranoid hypochondriac Terry was the perfect decision, as was Bruce Willis as the intelligent, brutish Joe. Everyone hits their marks perfectly and create a hilarious, entertaining adventure film that I can re-watch over and over again.

This movie is pretty useless. It just rambles on and on, going nowhere. It's not too long before we stop caring about the characters and stop caring about what happens next. The stars in it are shallow and annoying, just going through the paces, thinking about the big paychecks their agents negotiated for them. They have the same smug, bored expressions throughout.I guess the movie's best use is for late night TV cable stations where it's essentially filler between commercials. "Oh look, they've got big stars on this station. Let's watch until the next commercial break, then we'll change the channel." I've never heard more useless mumbling and whining in any movie. There are scenes that are totally stupid and inane. Maybe they have a special award somewhere for a film that best grates the nerves of the audience. Does it take a special talent to do this? The positive side is that Bob Dylan sings a couple of songs in the soundtrack, and it's a special pleasure to hear him. I don't know why he wanted his name associated with this piece of garbage, but here we have it. Someone said they spent $80 million making Bandits. I wonder how much Mr. Dylan got? Another positive is that there are some good location shots in Oregon, California and Nevada. However, there is no integration of the characters or plot into the surroundings. They may as well have blue screened it, and just paid that money to themselves.I saw it on television with commercial breaks. I know it's a bad movie when I'm looking forward to the commercials.The "twist" ending? It's been done so many times, it was an insult to once again throw it at us. Besides, it wasn't much of a surprise, as we saw it all being played out.