Dotsthavesp I wanted to but couldn't!

JinRoz For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

AudioFileZ A movie about bandits robbing banks? Well, in a way Bandits is that. It happens to be more about the couple of guys who are the bandits. That makes it more than a crime caper. This movie pulls you in but hardly due to criminal behavior as it quickly becomes a story of the relationship between two disparate prison escapees. In this way the movie rises to something different, and better.First there's two interesting main characters who play the escapee bandits. The creation of these characters through intelligent and witty writing brings makes their union especially good. What really brings the two to life is the portrayals of these two by Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton. They raise excellent writing to a high level indeed through their individual talent and pure chemistry. Part of the synergy between the two is certainly their often opposite approaches to life. Willis's smoothness is accentuated by Thornton's nervous brainy take on their situation. It's like mixing oil and vinegar and with some added spices a great union results making each better. The great enjoyment of this movie is seeing their diversity coming together in snappy dialog and brilliant answers in the form of their actions. The added spices are quite well realized with their mentally affected driver Harvey played gloriously off-center by Troy Garity and a great lost and lonely female love interest Kate played by the often scene stealing Kate Blanchett. With Willis and Thornton's roles being played out so well it's a high praise that Garity and Blanchett keep up so well. As a viewer the criminal thing is just a vehicle for some quite special characters to unfold around. You will relish their interplay much more than than the crimes they commit I won't spoil the actual story other than to say it's a very good palate in which all involved paint a modest masterpiece of characters you invest in and root for. The ever present thread of comedy is the string that ties it together for pure entertainment.Great colorful characters, a good story (sure there's plenty of holes and not a one that matters), witty and smart dialogue, and nice music seal this deal, director Barry Levisnon wrapped up one fantastic ride!

HelenMary Bandits is a clever, unusual bank-heist caper staring Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton as Joe and Terry, escaped convicts on the run, jacking banks under the guise of the "sleepover bandits" given their technique of kidnapping Bank Managers the night before to robbery. They're charming and non-violent, just wanting to finance their dream of getting Mexico to live the high lift. Playboy Joe (Willis) and hypochondriac Terry (Thornton) get into difficulty when bored housewife Kate (Blanchett) joins the duo. Comic relief, the klutz of the operation is wannabe stuntman Troy Garity, who is on a mission of his own having seen his dream girl "Pink Boots" (January Jones). Director Levinson played the action/drama realistic and close and it was believable enough to keep you in the story; the viewer believes the premise of the film as being plausible, "why hasn't anyone thought of this before?" This keeps the story zipping along, with wise cracks, tos and fros in story, and flashes back and forward, which I found clever devices to misdirect. With Willis' charm and Thornton's chameleon funny disguises and great acting his various symptoms and annoyances, and Blanchett's brilliance, the film was well cast and clever. Enjoyable, watchable and entertaining.

dead47548 It's not a film that's about the direction or the plot or anything technical. This film relies solely on the relationship between it's characters and boy does it succeed. Most of this is due to the great performances from Willis, Thornton and Blanchett who all come together perfectly with hilarious chemistry and they manage to pull the romantic scenes off quite well also. Cate Blanchett is the highlight of the film for me and it's probably my favorite performance of hers just because of how willing she is to just throw herself out there and be as insane as possible. Billy Bob Thornton being cast as the paranoid hypochondriac Terry was the perfect decision, as was Bruce Willis as the intelligent, brutish Joe. Everyone hits their marks perfectly and create a hilarious, entertaining adventure film that I can re-watch over and over again.

marsh876 This movie is pretty useless. It just rambles on and on, going nowhere. It's not too long before we stop caring about the characters and stop caring about what happens next. The stars in it are shallow and annoying, just going through the paces, thinking about the big paychecks their agents negotiated for them. They have the same smug, bored expressions throughout.I guess the movie's best use is for late night TV cable stations where it's essentially filler between commercials. "Oh look, they've got big stars on this station. Let's watch until the next commercial break, then we'll change the channel." I've never heard more useless mumbling and whining in any movie. There are scenes that are totally stupid and inane. Maybe they have a special award somewhere for a film that best grates the nerves of the audience. Does it take a special talent to do this? The positive side is that Bob Dylan sings a couple of songs in the soundtrack, and it's a special pleasure to hear him. I don't know why he wanted his name associated with this piece of garbage, but here we have it. Someone said they spent $80 million making Bandits. I wonder how much Mr. Dylan got? Another positive is that there are some good location shots in Oregon, California and Nevada. However, there is no integration of the characters or plot into the surroundings. They may as well have blue screened it, and just paid that money to themselves.I saw it on television with commercial breaks. I know it's a bad movie when I'm looking forward to the commercials.The "twist" ending? It's been done so many times, it was an insult to once again throw it at us. Besides, it wasn't much of a surprise, as we saw it all being played out.