Bandits

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amznwin.focus();} document.open(); document.write("<a href=javascript:popUp('http://buybox.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=reelmoviecriticc&link_code=xsc&creative=23424&camp=2025&path=/dt/assoc/tg/aa/xml/assoc/-/B00005V4XW/reelmoviecriticc/ref=ac_bb1_,_amazon')><img src=http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/associates/remote-buy-box/buy1.gif border=0 alt='Buy from Amazon.com' ></a>"); document.close(); </script> <noscript> <form method="POST" action="http://buybox.amazon.com/o/dt/assoc/handle-buy-box=B00005V4XW"> <input type="hidden" name="asin.B00005V4XW" value="1"> <input type="hidden" name="tag-value" value="reelmoviecriticc"> <input type="hidden" name="tag_value" value="reelmoviecriticc"> <input type="image" name="submit.add-to-cart" value="Buy from Amazon.com" border="0" alt="Buy from Amazon.com" src="http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/associates/add-to-cart.gif"> </form> </noscript>  </B></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="579" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="575"><div> <B>Bandits </B>*** (PG-13)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="575"><div> Reviewed By George O. Singleton</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="549" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 23 WIDTH="545"><div> "Together you're the perfect man"…Kate</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="580" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="269"><div> Joe: Bruce Willis</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Terry: Billy Bob Thornton</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="269"><div> Kate: Cate Blanchett</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Harvey: Troy Garity</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="269"><div> Darren: Bobby Slayton</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Director: Barry Levinson</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B>30 Second Bottom Line</B>: Two men escape from prison and become famous bank robbers who capture the imagination of the public much like the days of <I>Bonnie and Clyde</I>.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Story Line:</B> Joe (Bruce Willis) and Terry (Billy Bob Thornton) make an unplanned, miraculous escape from prison in a cement truck. To ensure that you are not to take the movie too seriously, a number of improbable events occur in the first five minutes of the film regarding their get away and a bank robbery.</div> <bR> <div> Joe's cousin Harvey (Troy Garity) is a dimwit who wants to be a stunt man and he practices falling off buildings and setting himself on fire. His primary job is to drive the getaway car but we know that at some point, the stunt man skills will come into play. Kate (Cate Blanchett) is introduced as a wacky wife who pretends she is happy when it's clear she is sad as she sips wine while she sings and prepares a gourmet meal for her husband. He bursts her bubble by saying that he has a dinner meeting, clearly a lie, and he encourages her to go see a movie. After he leaves, Kate tears out of the driveway of her beautiful riverside home in Oregon in her $100,000 Mercedes. She's driving like a maniac when she hits Terry while he is getting away from the police after running out of gas. Keep in mind this is a comedic crime spree.</div> <bR> <div> Within a few minutes circumstances change Kate from a concerned, though reckless, driver taking Terry to the hospital to a hostage, then she has Terry wanting her to just pull over so he can get out of the car. He's full of phobias and it's clear that he can't handle the strange one Kate is infected with. She insists on taking Terry to the rendezvous with Joe and Harvey and she decides to spend the night. Although Joe is probably more than a little horny after being in jail for who knows how long, he has a sheet separating him from Kate in the bed. When she starts to sing a song he knows the words to, they connect in more ways than one. </div> <bR> <div> Joe and Terry are dubbed the "sleepover bandits" by the media. They invade the home of the target bank's manager the night before, have dinner with the family and have the manager open the safe in the morning. That solves the problem of guards, tellers, customers and alarms. They are like Robin Hood and his merry men, except they rob from the rich and give to themselves, using the rationale that the banks are insured.  </div> <bR> <bR> <div> Kate is reported as kidnapped but when a man accidentally captures them on camera it's thought that she is now one of the bandits. During the cooling off period after a robbery when the group splits up to avoid being captured, Kate travels with Terry for a month and she becomes his lover. Will this <I>menage a trois</I> cause Joe and Terry to become jealous and start to fight?</div> <bR> <div> Joe is Mister Cool and Terry is a spastic man with neuroses of every order. One is so strange, which is a fact in Thornton's real life, that he has a fear of antique furniture. It might have something to do with ghosts and past lives. Kate is ready for a change and we can appreciate her situation when her husband, appearing on a TV show and believing her to be a hostage, says "<I><B>I'm</B></I> okay" and that he is going to Spain (presumably on business) and that "…my people know how to reach me." This is indeed dark humor and the epitome of self-centeredness. </div> <bR> <bR> <div> The film begins with a flash back on a TV show called <I>Criminals at Large</I> hosted by Darren Head (Bobby Slayton), which mimics <I>America's Most Wanted</I>. Darren refers to Joe and Terry being killed in their last bank robbery and I'll just say that what ties the movie together are Harvey's stunts.</div> <bR> <div> Kate, Joe and Terry have to decide the outcome of their complex love lives. Kate loves Joe because he is strong, handsome and knows what he wants. She also loves Terry because he's sweet, smart and deserves more than he thinks he does. </div> <bR> <div> <B>Tell Me More About It</B>: <I><B>Bandits</B></I> has the feel of <I><B>The Whole Nine Yards</B></I>, another Bruce Willis turn. Here the flashbacks and jump cuts in time move the story along as they rob banks from Oregon to California, and you connect to the film more as a series of semi related vignettes, as on <I>Saturday Night Live.</I> </div> <bR> <div> There are some very funny scenes in the movie, such as when during the course of a robbery, two policeman come to a drive up teller window where Terry greets them saying that the regular person is sick today.</div> <bR> <div> The goal that is set by Joe is to head for Mexico and open a bar and live the good life. All they need is money to bankroll their adventure. With a little luck, before long their modus operandi will change from saying "This is a bank robbery" to wearing tuxedoes and serving margaritas in their own restaurant and hotel. Like other heist movies of late, this too is destined for a happy ending. The trademark grin of Bruce Willis never wears thin because it allows you to look at the film as just entertainment-every scene has a wink to it.</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="591" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> PG-13 (some sexual content, language and violence)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> George O. Singleton © 2001</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> <A HREF="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com"><U><U>George@reelmoviecritic.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> Mini Filmography </div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="579" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="286"><div> Bruce Willis: <I><B>Unbreakable</B></I></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Billy Bob Thornton: Pushing Tin</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="286"><div> Cate Blanchett: <I><B>The Gift</B></I></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="286"><div> Troy Garity: Code Blue</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="286"><div> Bobby Slayton: Loser</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Barry Levinson: <I><B>Liberty Heights</B></I></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>