IMDB Rating: 6.60, 18607 votes |
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A charismatic convict (Bruce Willis) and a hypochondriac inmate (Billy Bob Thornton) break out of prison in a cement truck and immediately start a bank robbing spree. Becoming known as the "Sleepover Bandits", the two kidnap bank managers the night before their robbery, spend the night with their families, and then all go to the bank in the morning to get the dough. Using a dim-witted stunt man (Troy Garrity) as their getaway driver and lookout, the three successfully pull off several jobs that gets them recognition on a tv show about America's criminals. When a bored housewife (Cate Blanchett) with a failing marriage decides to runaway, she ends up in the hands of the criminals. Initially attracted to Willis, she nonetheless also ends up in bed with Thornton and a confused romantic relationship begins. Continuing along with their spree, the bandits hit the wall when the bank managers realize that they are non-violent and therefore no threat to them or their employees. This leads to one more big score at the Alamo Bank, where in the very opening scenes, things appear to go awry.Actors
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4 Comments
Good fun and entertainment without straining your brain too much.
Manipulative? Yep. Cutesy/quirky? Check. Worth seeing? Weeell…
…that depends on how you react to this news: the screenplay is by Harley Peyton, who has written for both TWIN PEAKS and PICKET FENCES, and he wants to give us the New Millennium Version of Butch and Sundance so bad, you can feel his ache in every scene. Well, his ache and eventually, yours.
This is one of those films where even with a script, sometimes the director just turns on the camera, tells the actors to go and hope that magic happens. That magic is what kept all the LETHAL WEAPON sequels from completely stinking up the theater. Ditto other buddy franchises like 48 HRS. and lately, RUSH HOUR. Willis and Thornton are good friends in real life, but REEL life is where the chemistry counts, and they should learn one thing from this experience: no matter how funny a scene might be to you, REMEMBER THE AUDIENCE. Good comedy is like great art; one brushstroke too much, and you may as well trash the whole damn thing.
At least the premise is sort of original: Bruce and BB are "The Sleepover Bandits," gentlemen bank robbers who invite themselves over to the bank manager’s home the night before to kidnap him, take him to the bank in the morning, and make off with the money before it even opens, thereby avoiding the usual nuisances that plague most robberies–cops, screaming customers, that sort of thing.
Bruce plays a hot head who practices Taoism (or at least his brand of it) as a form of "anger management," while BB, who does have some really funny moments, plays his hoplessly hypochondriac buddy. Escaped cons turned nationally famous bank robbers, things get complicated when they encounter a beautiful, lonely, looney, unfulfilled trophy wife, played with gosh-darn-it-ain’t-she-sweetness by Cate Blanchett, who complicates things considerably, which is saying something for this scenario.
It looks like Levinson and DP Dante Spinotti decided to play around with digital video and transfer it to film, because a lot of it has that blurry, cinema verite quality to it. I guess that’s what they were shooting for, but all it serves is to distract from the comedy, which is a shame when it’s working. When it doesn’t, it comes off like an SNL skit that crashed and burned in the first two minutes…and there are thirteen more to go. Not good at all.
I guess the biggest barometer as to whether or not you enjoyed yourself will be when you encounter the "twist" ending. You’ll either laugh your butt off, or groan in agonized embarassment. Me, I laughed, so in spite of all the flaws, I don’t feel like I got gypped out of my eight bucks.
So in hindsight, I can see the flaws, point them out, and warn you about what you’re in for, yet I must still admit that I enjoyed myself. Maybe you will, too, and maybe you won’t, but that’s why critics write reviews. Not to tell you what you should think of a movie, but to give you the skinny on what to expect and what they thought of it, so you can make your own judgment call.
So you can do one of two things: call some friends and go see this together, or call some friends, call Domino’s and then call Blockbuster to see if they have BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID, and call it a day. Your move.
somel aughs,some dry, some action, good music "okay", not great
Bandits stole $7 and two hours from my life!
I like Bruce Willis, love Billy Bob, and greatly respect Barry Levinson but this movie just plain sucked. Way, way too long. Tries to be a buddy + romantic comedy + action flick but fails on all three counts. Only good thing I can say about Bandits is that it has fantastic cinematography of the Northern Californian coastline.