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List Price: $14.98 | | Label: MGM (Video & DVD)
Salesrank: 9643
Released: April 2, 2002 |
| Our Price: $5.98 |
| Used Price: $0.49 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Strap yourself in for one hilarious "action-comedy with great chemistry great one-liners [and] expert direction" (New York Post)! Bruce Willis "makes all the right moves" (San Francisco Examiner) as the man with the perfect bank-robbing plan - and two imperfect partners - in this "terrific [film that's] as much fun as you'll have at the movies all year" (FOX-TV)!Busting out of prison Joe (Willis) and Terry (Billy Bob Thornton) are on the run and out of money. That changes when they devise a scheme to place bank managers under house arrest the night before they rob their banks. But success as the infamous "sleepover bandits" isn't the only change in store for them. As they cross state lines and federal laws they meet Kate (Cate Blanchett) a sexy eccentric housewife whose indecision as to which of the two bandits she wants could spoil their partnership for good!System Requirements:Starring: Cate Blanchett Billy Bob Thornton and Bruce Willis. Directed By: Barry Levinson. Running Time: 123 Min. Color. This film is presented in both "Widescreen" and "Standard" formats. Copyright 2002 MGM Studios.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG-13 UPC: 027616873859 Manufacturer No: 1003235
Description of Bandits:
Chemistry and quirkiness--and a stellar cast--help make Barry Levinson's Bandits more than just another comedy about ill-matched outlaws. Levinson's deft touch in Rain Man is evident in the film's road-movie structure, which follows bank robbers Joe (Bruce Willis) and Terry (Billy Bob Thornton) on a crime spree from Oregon to California. They're eventually joined by an aspiring stuntman and getaway driver (Troy Garity, son of Jane Fonda) and a neglected housewife (Cate Blanchett) who falls in love with both Joe and Terry after escaping her boring marriage. As scripted by Twin Peaks alumnus Harley Peyton, Bandits shifts from character comedy to crime thriller with reckless abandon, and the humor (particularly Terry's multiple neuroses) is occasionally forced and flat. Levinson compensates with offbeat moments of unexpected tenderness, allowing his cast to express depths of character not necessarily found in the script. A twist ending won't surprise attentive viewers, but it gives Bandits the extra kick it needs. --Jeff Shannon
Bandits Reviews:
Worthy for the main characters only.... 
2009-12-14 - This film is pretty weak. The plot is very unrealistic as it plays out. What is somewhat entertaining, is Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, & Kate Blanchett. I paid 99 cents for a weekend rental special. It is worth that much, not more.
Bandits 
2009-09-16 -
If you are in the mood for laughter, this is the movie for you. Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton are great together.
Bandits is a movie that will leave you wanting a little more and wishing they left a little out
2009-05-12 - Joe Blake (Bruce Willis) and Terry Collins (Billy Bob Thornton) have just busted out of jail and within minutes rob decide to rob a bank to get some quick cash. But they aren't your regular hot headed bank robbers, they are calm and passive... and effective. After their quick heist they hide out and begin to make plans for the future, plans that will need money. And since they are bank robbers, they decide to use that skill to get that money. They come up with a scheme to rob banks before they open in the morning. To do that, they go to the bank managers house at night and they basically let the manager know they are going to rob the bank and then they stay the night with him or her until it's time to rob the bank... hence the name "The Sleepover Bandits". Then one day, Terry is hit by a car driven by Kate Wheeler (Cate Blanchett). She freaks out and tries to help him, but then gets caught up in Terry and Joe's crazy world, mainly because she's bored with her life and needs some action. The media is in love with the duo, as well as the public. A blessing and a curse, because now they are not as frightened of them, leading into some troublesome incidents. Incidents that are getting them close to getting caught. With a million dollar reward on their capture, they must come up with a plan to stay hidden forever, before they are finally caught... or before their little gang implodes from the inside.
I have some very mixed feelings about this movie. I'll lay it down like this. If this movie ONLY had Bruce Willis and Billy Bob's characters, as well as Troy Garity's character (their driver who wants to be a movie stunt man), then I think this movie could've been great. But with Cate Blanchett's character it becomes less about the heists and a little more to do with a love triangle. An absolutely dumb love triangle. Yes Cate is very pretty and I could see her causing a love triangle, but did we really need this? She makes the duo become a total mess at times. When the movie first starts out, it seems like it's going to be a lot of fun, because the duo are very good friends with one being a cool and smooth Alpha Dog kind of guy (Bruce Willis) while the other is a very smart, but a huge hypochondriac (Billy Bob). Then Cate gets thrown in and steals the heart of Bruce, to only steal the heart of Billy Bob later. And most of the lovey dovey parts just seemed so out of place for me. I was much more into the slick idea of the bank heists that they were pulling.
But that is really my only complaint. Other than that, the movie is pretty darn good. Much better than the first time I remember watching it. The heists are cool. The jokes between everyone are funny. And watching Harvey (Troy Garity) run around with flaming hands was a hoot... yeah I said hoot...wut up. With a cool twist of an ending, the movie does entertain, as long as you can get ignore some of the more unbelievable stuff and also not care about the love triangle.
Definitely give this a rent if you haven't seen it. It might just surprise ya.
P.S. - I loved the line that Terry tells Kate when she comes to his hotel room one night. "Kate, there are guys who leave, and there are guys who get left. I don't think it's any mystery as to which category I fall into." It really made me feel bad for Terry. Billy Bob is such a good actor.
Entertaining 
2009-01-06 - It was an interesting effect to show part of the end of the movie at the beginning, then explain the story. The actors were excellent for the part. Very entertaining. Humor, not gruesome, and unexpected ending.
Bandits
2008-10-19 - When first watching this movie, I found some of the bank robberies--though very slick and original--to be quite implausible. If the film wasn't as charming and likable, I'd probably have a difficult time suspending disbelief. But then I found out the story of the "Sleepover Bandits" was actually based on a real duo of bank robbers. Of course, this is nowhere close to a biopic and most of the story is obviously fiction, the concept of these two guys sleeping over the bank managers' houses and robbing their banks the next morning was based on truth. Why these managers didn't call the cops while the two guys weren't watching or why they didn't try to strangle the two guys in their sleep--I don't know. The truth really is stranger than fiction. But the bandits did have an interesting gimmick: they only robbed banks, since the money belonged to the government; they never snatched money from people's pockets. There's actually a scene in the movie in which they bust out of prison and rob a lady's car. Willis hands the lady her pocketbook and says, "Don't forget your pocketbook."
