Bandits

Now Showing
Candid Reviews of Movies Just Hitting The Big Screen

by Cole Smithey

Bandits

Barry Levinson (Diner, Rainman) might seem an unlikely director to helm a bank heist comedy in which a couple of escaped prisoners become outlaw heroes but the key word here is comedy. Pratfalls, snappy dialogue, and snazzy character work (especially by Billy Bob Thornton) make Bandits a laugh-out-loud movie that even manages to pull out a surprise ending. Levinson emphasizes the movie’s theme of ‘escape’ as a necessary option between the opposite poles of thought and action as represented by the two main thieves. Terry (Billy Bob Thornton) is a man of intellect, albeit a phobia riddled intellect, whereas his partner Joe (Bruce Willis) springs into action wherever he sees an opening. Kate (Cate Blanchette) becomes the mutual love interest bond that alters the group’s liberation.

The old adage that says ‘crime doesn’t pay’ is one that has been increasingly tossed out by American screenwriters over recent years. And it’s unlikely that that attitude will reverse itself anytime soon regardless of the truly weird times America goes through. The bigger moral lesson that writers have learned is that crime does frequently pay criminals quite handsomely and that it would be naïve to pretend any different. It’s with this awareness that Bandits screenwriter Harley Payton sets up his benevolent outlaw characters, who are memorable mainly for their quirky sensibilities and mutual penchant for love.

Joe has a mean temper but is moderated by Terry whose suggestibility at diseases brings about a litany of symptoms at the drop of a hat. Joe is a charmer with the ladies while Terry is more likely to break into hives before getting close to a woman. Because the guys are so different from each other yet pursue the same goals, right down to the woman between them, Joe and Terry become somewhat interchangeable. They show up in ridiculous disguises at the manager’s house of a bank that they plan to rob on the night before the heist, sleep over, and make their theft in the first thing in the morning. Branded as “The Sleepover Bandits” by the media, the team takes on a domestic identity that jibes with their simplistic approach to life.

Kate Wheeler is the fuel to the flame that the boys maintain. Having run into Terry (literally with her car) after being dissed by her negligent husband, Kate is a one woman Thelma and Louise. Not only can Kate handle Joe’s macho romantic designs, but she surprises herself by taking on Terry’s delicate sensitive nature as well. Kate doesn’t make a very good outlaw, but she can cook in the kitchen, the bedroom, and run interference between the trouble it takes to get there. Unfortunately Blanchette is never allowed to run free enough with the burning sexual desire that should predicate Kate’s actions. It’s one of the movie’s few serious flaws that Kate’s potential for pleasure is never revealed beyond the sultry dance moves she does while lip-syncing a pop song as she hastily cooks a gourmet dinner that her husband later dismisses.

The real treat at the bottom of the cinematic box of Bandits is Billy Bob Thornton’s comic physicality and controlled vocal range. Thornton dials up a list of physical tics and flinches that color the movie with unexpected snaps of comedy. A scene where he loses control of the right side of his body and the dance floor of a bar catches him crawling his way up a chair and hanging onto the chair’s back with his cheek. Thornton has the looseness of a younger actor — like Robert Downey Jr. and speaks in a variety of tones and rhythms that keep you glued to his every word.

Bandits sets it’s sights on the relationship between Terry, Joe, and Kate like planes flying in tight formation. As one breaks off to perform some gravity-defying stunt the other two keep their proximity so that there’s a cool harmony between them. Bruce Willis stays in his signature mannered mode allowing Thornton to steal scenes at will. As an escapist comedy the movie zigs and zags just where you don’t expect, and that gives you enough time to laugh without missing the next gag.