Customer Reviews

Bandits [Region 2]

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(47)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

Barry Levinson has come through again with a great comedy that is really a very well made character story not unlike his previous work in Good Morning Vietnam or Wag the Dog. This is one of the few really good movies I've seen this year. This movie succeeds on the levels of comedy, characters, and technical achievement. Highly recommended.

I went to see this movie last night at one of the Seattle Sneak Preview venues. I have to say that this was the best film I had seen in a long time.

Joe (Bruce Willis) and Terry (Billy Bob Thornton) are convicts in the Oregon State Prison. On the spur of the moment Joe decides to hijack a cement truck and make good his escape. Terry, a certifiable hypochondriac, goes along for the ride. These two bank robbers become endearing figures to the audiance as they wreck havoc from Oregon, through Nevada into California. Kate (Cate Blanchett) joins up with them as a permanent hostage while she tries to escape her boring life and marriage.

This movie is incredibly funny and quirky and I rate it a must see for Bruce Willis fans. (p.s. there is some similarity between the comedic style and main character [Bruce] in this film and the film classic "The Hudson Hawk", also starring Bruce Willis!)

I also must mention an cameo apperance by the ever lovely KTLA Sky Cam reporter, Jennifer York. She is only on screen for 10 seconds, but she does add a bit of grace to the film.

Don't listen to the other reviewers. You seldom go wrong with Bruce Willis, especially if Billy Bob and Cate Blanchett are factored into the equation. Actors aside, the multi-layed flashbacks of the script are thrilling and clever, with a doozy scenario of the suavest outlaws you've seen in a while.

The romance (triangular, no less) is interesting and the dialogue sports several quotable quips. 75% into the movie, the romance dragged for a 5-6 minutes, but that is forgiveable.

Oh, and the soundtrack is marvellous. Get this one as soon as you can.

I stumbled across this movie on cable one night and was immediately captured by it, much like the bank managers chosen for one of their capers by Bruce and Billy Bob. This is an intriguing tale that draws the viewer in father with each scene, and both boys give excellent performances, but the real star of the show is Ms Blanchett, who characteristically inhabits her role from the bone marrow out, switching back and forth between her character's own diverse personalities along the way. That the caper ends with all using their brains to get away cleanly makes it even better. Can't say enough about this film.

In brief--one of the flat-out funniest movies ever. All the characters are off the wall, yet with a kind of dead-pan humor that gets you going. I don't agree with the philosohy that it's okay to steal from the wealthy, but still the movie comes across. Just so well brought off! The wonderful "turn" at the end will satisfy too. Great laughs. Neurotic, off-beat characters we like anyway!

Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton break out of jail and proceed to rob banks in a unique fashion.
Much better than I expected. I had every intention of ignoring this film while surfing the net. I was quickly pulled into the film and watching with rapt attention. It was hilarious.
The DVD has the option to watch the film in widescreen or standard. There's an alternate ending and a few deleted scenes.
This DVD is well worth watching and buying.

All three of the leading roles in this movie are superbly acted. Willis and Thornton play roles very different from the other ones I've seen them in, and they have a delightful on-screen chemistry. In the movie, the viewer sees how they both need one another and how they can despise the idiosyncracies of eachother. The fact that they both love the same woman (the oustanding Blanchett) just adds to the drama.

All of this wonderful love triagle is set behind a raucous bank robbery plot. These guys are the darn nicest, friendliest bank robbers ever, and I was rooting for them the whole time! It's always a sign of a masterful storyteller when they can make you root for the bad guys.

I can't think of any movie to compare this to. I wish there were more like it. This film was underrated, in my opinion. I own it on DVD and everyone I show it to enjoys it, but seems to have missed hearing about it when it was in theaters. Check this one out and enjoy yourself!

I saw this movie in theaters three times, and I laughed out loud every time. Told in flashback, Bandits showcases Billy Bob Thornton (Terry) and Bruce Willis (Joe) as a bumbling Bonnie and Clyde, robbing banks and gaining notoriety along the way as the "Sleepover Bandits" (for their technique of "kidnapping" bank managers and their families the night before a robbery). With Terry's neuroses and Joe's gusto, the two form an unbreakable bond as the brains and braun behind this humorous train of robberies. Along the way, they are subjected to Joe's simple-minded cousin, Harvey, and their kidnapped love interest, Cate Blanchett (Kate). The foursome keeps the film believable, as the robberies themselves become less and less likely to succeed due to Joe and Terry's rising fame. In the end, Harvey's stupidity never costs them the bundle, Kate's hysteria works in their favor, and the two friends come out of it as close as they were when they stole a cement truck to escape prison in the film's opening sequence. The characters are all exaggerations of personality quirks, but the genuine bond between them creates a net of believability. From the love triangle that emerges between Joe, Terry, and Kate, to Harvey's obsession with a girl in "pink boots," Bandits truly holds up as a unique comedy on many levels. The plot is creative enough to hold any viewers attention long enough to fall in love with one (or all) of these characters, and the dialogue is witty enough to keep even repeat viewers chuckling. Check out Bandits, and see one of the funniest movies to come out in recent months.

I write this having read no one else's review here. I am always delighted to see which major ideas they have arrived at that I'd missed and, sometimes, vice-versa.

I liked this movie. I enjoyed it thoroughly. And I wondered why, in the beginning, we are told "how it ends." See the movie and see the skill in writing and plotting a story, and in the structure of sequences.

It's a delight, a diversion. No more, no less, and "what's so bad about that?" The delights include the story ideas and some delicious witty dialogue. As well as sensitivity to the human condition, especially in a love triangle, provided by ????? Peyton's script. In fact, the writer tricks--well, no spoilers here.

I am sure the key actors -- Willis, Thornton, Blanchett -- had fun making the movie, as did the usually dead-serious director, Barry Levinson.

Willis gives us his best humor since his TV work on "Moonlighting." Thornton surely has an Oscar-nominated performance.

These two actors are no better than Robert Redford and Jim Gandolfini who were in THE LAST CASTLE, and whose understated performances I felt were reduced by rotten direction. Here three fine actors and one terrific director show us the difference a good director, or a more-aptly chosen director, can make.

Finally, about 3/4 of the way through, those of you interested in fine still photography or cinematography or just in looking at beautful women, watch for the utterly stunning shot of Ms. Blanchett, back-lit against a dark ground, her red-orange hair with yellow interior blowing against the light, glowing like astronomers' photos of the sun's eruptions. Beauty on every personal and esthetic level.

Have fun. Enjoy. I did. And it's about time.

This movie was worth it just to see Bruce Willis portray his charcter so convincingly. In fact, he seems so connected to it that it's almost as if he is not acting. The same is true to a lesser degree with Billy Bob Thornton, whose hypochondria is amusing at first, but becomes a bit tiresome. Cate Blanchett, on the other hand, is very impressive in the way she develops her character from an unhappy and repressed housewife into a true outlaw..... there were quite a few times when she reminded me of Anjelica Huston, both of them being extremely gifted actresses who are not afraid of looking foolish or even unglamorous.

The plot is not all that original, but there are enough new angles to make it entertaining. There's a lot of humor, both in the dialogue and physical humor. My only complaint was that the action slowed down unnecessarily about three-fourths through, but the ending redeemed this problem. I've noticed this tendency in other recent films. They start out with a good hook, grab the viewer and maintain a hectic pace, then it's almost as if the director feels compelled to insert a low-key hiatus before an action-packed finale. Or maybe they have a hard time editing it that far into the film, knowing that the audience won't get up and walk out at that point anyway.

Still, these are minor complaints. This is a very good movie with some excellent acting, and sure to entertain all but the most hypercritical viewer.