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Like a well mixed drink, you need to have the right amount of each element to get a movie right. But what if you throw in something else? Then you have a whole different dynamic in the movie or in the drink. This funny and well-acted bank-robbing caper does well to juggle everything without having too many balls drop as the story progresses. Though the middle has a chance to fall out “Bandits” is held together by the acting prowess of Billy Bob Thorton, Bruce Willis and Cate Blanchette.
As the movie starts, we are introduced to two bank robbers, named Joe (Willis) and Terry (Thorton), in the middle of a bank holdup and greeted by Darren Head, nicely played by Bobby Slayton, the grizzly-voiced host of a show called Criminals at Large,. As Head talks about the attempted heist that ended the crime run and the lives of the nicknamed “Sleep over Bandits” he serves as the springboard to give us the history of their crimes. In a unique way the crime show is intermingled with the action that is going on in real time as the criminals tell the host what happened through their run of successful robberies.
The background information shows that Joe is the Brawn and Terry, a hypochondriac with interesting allergies, is the Brain. This lethal combination breaks out of jail one day on pure luck to begin their legacy. We figure out what the two characters are like as Terry complains and tries to think through the next step, while Joe just does things on instinct - like using a highlighter to hold up their first bank. After their first hold up and a night with two unassuming teenagers they plot their crime path.
Their sole motivation is to rob banks to save money to own a nightclub in Acapulco. On the way they recruit Joe’s cousin Phil, a dimwitted wannabe stuntman with a heart of gold, to be there front man and getaway driver. In order to pull off the kind off heists to make enough money to own their dream place in Mexico, Terry devises a new way of pulling off the crime and that is where the nick name “The Sleepover Bandits” comes from. Terry comes up with a plan of staking out the bank manager’s house, taking the manger and his family hostage, sleeping over, then the next morning, having the manger assist them in robbing the bank. They sleep over so they can go in with the manager before the bank opens and rob it without anyone there, using the bank keys and codes supplied by the manager. In the first night of being the sleepover bandits, there is a great scene that shows the human side of Terry as he tries to complement his hostages cooking while she cries because of what’s happening.
The next morning Joe, with a mustache and cowboy hat, and Terry, looking like Neil Young on the album cover of “After the Gold Rush/Harvest”, pull off their first sleepover job. After the first robbery they split up and plan to meet in two weeks for the next heist. While trying to peacefully get through the next two weeks Terry has car trouble and then runs into real trouble in the form of a basket case named Kate(Blanchette), who hits him with her car. Before the accident we get the back-story of Kate as she lip-syncs and prepares a meal to the classic “Holding out for a Hero.” After she prepares this gourmet meal her husband lets her know that he wouldn’t have time for her today. While realizing her marriage is on the rocks, she frantically drives out of her house, while singing along to an eighties classic, and runs into Terry, literally. Not knowing what to do with her after thinking he has suffered a concussion Terry tries to car jack her and kick her out of her own car but she won’t budge.
This is where the dynamic changes. As Terry brings Kate into his world of crime, Joe is at first skeptical, but then becomes entranced with her and romantic sparks fly. As they plan their next robbery, now with a fourth member of their team, more highjinks ensue.
Though the dialogue is a little forced, Harley Peyton, best know for his work on Twin Peaks, adds some great music references that add style and character to the story. Look for a great scene that revolves around the Bonnie Tyler classic “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” The music supervisors also do a solid job matching up Bob Dylan’s “Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum” to set the mood and tone of the two lead characters in the opening sequence.
The movie maintains good momentum as a series of events leads Kate to Joe’s and then Terry’s beds making their relationship a dangerous love triangle with criminal intent. All the while Phil, the getaway driver, bumbles things, because of a beautiful hitchhiker in pink boots. Tension builds between our two robbers after they both fight for Kate’s affection leading Joe and Terry’s relationship to a new low. Though the middle around the romantic triangle plays a little stagnant the ending is a great one in which the unlikely happens without a hitch in a perfect, funny, Hollywood ending which makes it well worth the price of admission.
Directed by Barry Levinson, who mastered the best friend/brother dynamic while directing “Rainman”, this film once again proves that he knows how to make two actors seem like family. “Bandits”, though not all together perfect, mixes part comedy, part action and a little dash of romance that like my favorite drink, the Blue Hawaiian, makes for a very satisfying experience in the long run.
Summarizing Haiku
Bandits
Acting makes
Barry’s Bandits
Break the Bank