Bandits Review
by Steve Rhodes (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)October 12th, 2001
BANDITS
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2001 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): * 1/2
Argue. Argue. Argue. That's how the robbers spend their time in BANDITS, directed clumsily by Barry Levinson. In it, Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton play a couple of "ha ha" funny bank robbers named Joe and Terry. Although they are supposedly the most successful bank robbers in the history of the United States, these two irritating characters appear to be smart guys acting dumb, or perhaps it's the other way around. In either case, after a half hour of their schtick, I was ready to yell out, "All right already."
Thornton, channeling Woody Allen at his worst, plays the story's central character. With nerdy, rimless glasses, Terry is a hyper-hypochondriac who begs sheepishly to go back to the safety of prison after their big breakout.
With a reality TV twist, the host of "Criminals at Large" tells the robbers' story in flashback. Cate Blanchett plays Kate, the wacky wife of a bad kisser, who leaves her uncaring husband for a life of crime with the "sleep-over bandits," the nickname given to Joe and Terry for their M.O. They kidnap the bank manager the night before the robbery. This necessitates having a little slumber party with the manager's family before the heist.
The movie fails the laugh test miserably. I never laughed although there were a few members of my audience, including two women on either side of me, who went wild over it. Terry kept staring at Joe with a "This is stupid" kind of condescending look. I'm with Terry. As bad movies love to do, BANDITS has a Steve McQueen movie playing on television in one of the scenes. I couldn't tell which one it was, but it had to have been better than BANDITS.
BANDITS runs a long 2:05. It is rated PG-13 for "some sexual content, language and violence" and would be acceptable for kids around 9 and up.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, October 12, 2001. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC and the Century theaters.
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