Today’s quick review: Bandits. Joe Blake (Bruce Willis) and Terry Collins (Billy Bob Thornton) are a pair of bank robbers with a novel approach to robbing banks. Rather than trying to beat the banks’ security systems directly, they go to the bank manager’s house the night before the robbery, hold the manager and his family hostage until the morning, then take the manager to get them the money when the bank opens. Their crime spree hits a snag when Terry inadvertently kidnaps Kate Wheeler (Cate Blanchett) during a bungled carjacking. Kate is a housewife in a dying relationship who finally finds the excitement she craves with Joe and Terry. But the feelings she develops for both men threaten to split the duo apart.
Bandits is a crime comedy with a romantic plot. Bruce Willis plays the confident, dangerous Joe, who sweeps Kate off her feet. Billy Bob Thornton plays his best friend and partner in crime, the neurotic Terry, whose sensitivity endears him to Kate. This love triangle is standard enough fare and forms the heart of the movie. The characters are moderately entertaining but not particularly deep or interesting. The plot is similarly straightforward: the duo pulls off a string of heists until the public cottons to their technique, leading to greater challenges from without even as the love triangle is tearing them apart from within. The comedy is amusing in places but not particularly memorable.
Watch Bandits only if you’re in the mood for a light, romcom-esque crime comedy and don’t care too much about quality. The film manages to be amusing in places, and it has a couple of good ideas that it does not properly capitalize on, but ultimately it is not satisfying as either a romance or a comedy. Skip it if you prefer a film with a bit more meat on its bones.
6.6 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 6.0 to 6.5 for having mild charm but ultimately being a forgettable watch.