Bandits

Rating:
Summary: Quirky fun
Review: "Bandits" is one of those quirky comedies that require a bizarre sense of humor to enjoy. The script is clever with an incongruous love triangle between escaped convicts and bank robbers Terry (Billy Bob Thornton) and Joe (Bruce Willis), and their captive turned accomplice Kate (Cate Blancett).

This is not a film to be taken seriously and the bank robberies are more slapstick than dramatic. Terry and Joe kidnap bank managers the night before, have a nice dinner with the family and then go to work with them the next morning to rob their bank, earning them the nickname "Sleepover Bandits". Before long, they are so famous that the bank managers treat them like honored guests.

Director Barry Levinson's (Good Morning Vietnam, Rain Man, Wag the Dog, Sphere) forte is presenting human stories, though he doesn't have much of this type of zany comedy on his resume. He is excellent at character development and presenting the finer points of relationships and that is evident here, though the characters are all wacky. Many of the bits are funny in a peculiar way, but a good number are just goofy and miss the mark.

The best comedy comes from Billy Bob Thornton, who makes Terry into a hyper neurotic, paranoid hypochondriac. Just about everything that comes out of his mouth is comical, and he delivers it with such an ironic sense of seriousness that it doubles the effect. Anyone who has ever had a friend who was into self help books will find Thronton's performance to be a scream. Willis again plays the macho straight man with his usual ease. This is a character that he can play sleepwalking; he has played him so many times. Willis seems far more tongue-in-cheek than Thronton, and it is hard to tell whether he is incredulous as the character or of the character.

Cate Blanchett rounds out the cast with another loony character, a lonely housewife looking for excitement and fulfillment. Blanchett has such outstanding range that almost any project she attempts produces terrific results. To make Kate believable, she has to conjure a character that can be attracted to two men who are utter opposites, yet somehow she pulls it off.

This is a strange story full of peculiar people and it is great fun if you aren't hoping for anything approaching reality. I rated it 7/10. It is good light fare for viewers with a twisted sense of humor.

Rating:
Summary: practically unwatchable
Review: I guess I just don't get it, but this is definately the worst movie I've seen in a theater since... well, I can't even think of the last time I saw something this bad in a theater. I laughed exactly once, and spent the rest of my time contemplating walking out. After seeing it all the way through, I wish I had walked out.

First off, Thorton's character was not funny. He's a good actor, and he did the best he could with such a dull script, but he simply does not work as the "comic relief". From the moment his character was introduced as the goofy guy (to Bruce Willis's quiet, serious guy), I knew I was in for painful gags. I just didn't know quite how painful they would be. The jokes are forced at their best, and nauseating at their worst. The running gag about him being a hypochondriac just makes it that much more infuriating. I have to say that the one time I did laugh, I laughed out loud. So if the movie had been 5 minutes long, I probably would have enjoyed it. Unfortunately it was (I believe) a bit over two hours, and I was bored senseless. The pace is excruciatingly slow, and I simply did not have the patience.

As far as the characters themselves, I just couldn't bring myself to believe them. Three fine performers trying to do their best with three impossibly unconvincing characters. I don't mind non-believable characters in a satire (be it self-satire or a satire of something else) but this one tries to be more than just a comedy. It's a crime-drama and a romance as well. And it takes these elements seriously, which was a huge mistake. If you are easily irritated by formulaic, obvious comedy, consider yourself warned. This film is about as formulaic and obvious as they come.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting Ending
Review: Good flick. Not great, but good. A little long at times, but the acting keeps you involved. Thornton and Willis keep the story alive.

Thornton does a great job. Plays his character expertly. He should do more films in this style role. Willis is his normal cool, tough guy self.

The ending is a complete surprise. Reminds me of the "Thomas Crown Affair" I hope that doesn't give it away.

Worth watching.

Rating:
Summary: I WISH I COULD HAVE WALKED OUT ON IT TWICE!
Review: If you loved this movie, please, for the love of all that is holy, keep it to yourself.

Rating:
Summary: Starts off good but then fizzles
Review: The movie stars off decent enough with the story off two cons who make a daring escape from prison. They then go on an interstate crime spree robing banks under the moniker "The Sleepover Bandits". There are some amusing moments, but as soon as they hook-up with a female accomplice the movie spirals into a tedious love triangle that should have been shortened in my opinion. The ending is clever and it should satisfy, if necsesary fast-foreward to the end.

Rating:
Summary: "Bandits" thieves your valuable time
Review: Despite the inclusion of the U2 hit "Beautiful Day" in the movie trailer, there is no daylight in this confusing, silly farce of a movie. With the sole exception of Thornton's character, I found no reason to sit through this. Unlikely scenarios collide with plodding scenes to reach an absolutely stoopid ending.

Rating:
Summary: Great Performances, Great Stars, Entertaining Movie
Review: BANDITS / (2001) ***1/2 (out of four)

Barry Levinson's clever romantic comedy Bandits makes stealing money look fun and simple. I can see it now: young, influential criminals holding up entire banks with magic markers. Certain things in this movie make such perfect sense, we wonder why nobody's thought of them before.

Even the casting makes perfect sense. Who better to play a handsome, spontaneous ladies man than Bruce Willis? And who could portray an intelligent, hypochondriac better than Billy Bob Thornton? Together, these two characters make the perfect man. Of course, it's only a matter of time before a woman becomes involved and finds herself split between the two.

But Bandits is anything but your average run-of-the-mill romantic comedy. Willis and Thornton play Joe Blake and Terry Collins, two criminals in a high security prison. As the movie opens, they escape from prison in such a way that probably makes the other prisoners hit themselves on the head and ask "Why didn't I think of that?"

Just as soon as they switch getaway cars, Joe and Terry rob a bank to finance their upcoming adventures. After hooking up with an old friend of Joe's, a wannabe stuntman played by Troy Garity, the criminals devise a foolproof plan to rob banks: they take the bank manager hostage the night before a heist, sleep over at his house, then go into the bank with him the next morning before business hours. No unexpected holdups. No complications. Just take the money and leave before the first customer arrives.

The Joe and Terry dream of escaping to a tropical location and opening a margarita bar. Their success as bank robbers eventually puts them at the top of the FBI's most wanted list. Things become even more complicated when Kate Wheeler (Cate Blanchett) runs into one of the crooks and wants to become a part of their lifestyle. When she falls in love with both men, the situation really starts to heat up.

Oscar-winner Barry Levinsion gives Bandits a humble sense of reality. He doesn't place Joe and Terry on a pedestal and treat them like superheroes; he actually opens the film revealing their presumed demise. Although in interviews he explains that he was initially unsure how to handle the material, his uncertainty does not show in the final production. He has found the perfect blend of romance, action, and comedy to satisfy all tastes and styles.

Bandits opens with a bookend revealing parts of the film's finale. This doesn't really work. Normally, this technique is used when a movie is more about a journey than what actually happens at the end. Although Bandits is indeed more about a journey, the movie's structure does not support such an opening. It doesn't provide us with enough information to work effectively, and, after a final twist at the very end, this technique seems pointless since it doesn't reveal the actual ending, anyway.

Nonetheless, Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, and Cate Blanchett deliver great performances, forming a charismatic, unlikely love triangle. Troy Garity, gleeful and eccentric, steals all of his scenes in memorable supporting role. Despite the various structural flaws, the cast alone is enough to redeem Bandits as an above average comic adventure. It's one of the year's most fun surprises..

Rating:
Summary: Great acting!
Review: Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton do an excellent job in their roles as criminals. Its the quirkiness and the ability to give their characters a new dimension that made the movie great in my opinion.

The plot is a typical one where bank robbers plan for the big heist coupled with an incidental love story. However, this love story happens to be quite fun because both men fall in love with one of the girls they kidnapped. She is a desperate woman looking for some type of adventure to get out of the home as a typical housewife. She ends up loving both of the men as each love her but are jealous. So, the love story serves a strong purpose and is possibly the best part of the movie.

I can't say enough about Billy Bob Thornton. His ability to make a quirky character believable is amazing. Bruce Willis is cast in a role he is best suited for, the down on his luck flashy character. It works!

Again, not the best plot in the world, but the acting makes the movie a must-see in my opinion. This is a movie I'd be happy to view over and over again in my vast DVD collection!

Rating:
Summary: Better than I expected!
Review: I though that this would not be a very good movie, but a movie to rent and pass some time, but to my amasement, I really liked this action/comedy movie as it's engaging and funny. If you are looking for a new movie to buy, check out this one and you will not be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Bandits ok movie
Review: This movie is for comdey loves. I don't reccomend going to see this movie for action. The plot of the movie is these bank robbers rob banks in the morning. By take the bank manger the night before and take him to the bank before the bank opens.