„Bandits" is a lighthearted comedy about … well , bandits. I can easily picture this movie as western. Anyway this isn't your typical American comedy . The humor here is offbeat and rather odd. It might mot be everyone's cup of tea. The whole movie has a sense of specific boredom in it – nothing really happens , yet the audience isn't bored. The funniest scenes are IMHO Willis and Blanchett talking about Bonnie Tyler's music and Thornton after the car crash.The trio of stars deserves some praise . Bruce Willis is good as the tough guy with good heart. Billy Bob Thornton is brilliant as the hypochondriac robber and so is Cate Blanchett as the frustrated housewife.The movie makes some mild attempts at being a satire at the media , but never really develops that idea. The story is simple and predictable , so is the ending . It doesn't mean that "Bandits" aren't a pleasant way to spend your evening . Just don't expect big laughs and you should have kinda odd sense of humor.I give it 5/10.

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.

"Bandits" is one of those comedies where everything is so perfect that it is just a joy to watch. That feeling of enjoyment is from a clever plot, and acting and directing that never lets the story become a farce.The writing, directing (Baltimore's Barry Levenson) and acting are all superb. I particularly appreciated Cate Blanchet's performance as Kate Wheeler, an unappreciated gorgeous wife in despair because she has prepared a fabulous gourmet dinner and then her dolt of a husband decides to skip dinner. (I recently saw a serious drama, "The Man Who Cried," in which Cate Blanchett was also terrific. She hadn't come to my attention previously.) Billy Bob Thornton also was great as a neurotic convict/bank robber, and Bruce Willis uses a tough guy persona that has worked exceedingly well in such previous films as "Pulp Fiction." The plot, derived from a true criminal case, is about a pair of convict buddies who break out of prison and begin robbing banks to finance their dream of a plush retirement in Mexico. But they don't like the dangers that ordinary bank robbers risk, so they come up with a novel approach of getting the bank managers to let them into rob the banks in the morning before the bank is open to customers. But when Cate Blanchett's character enters their life, a romantic conflict ensues. Troy Garity is very good as an easily distracted movie stunt man (I don't recall if he was a friend or relative) in need of some excitement who jumps at the opportunity to drive the bank robbers' get-away-car.The story is told as a narrative reflecting back on the events that led up to the narration's current time. The end has a surprise twist that I was able to guess because of something included earlier in the film.If you are old enough or fortunate enough to have seen Alex Guiness' 1950's era classic crime comedies, "The Ladykillers" and "The Lavender Hill Mob," I think you will find that "Bandits" brings them to mind, despite "Bandits" being a less broad form of comedy.

We often wax on and on about films -- usually justified in doing so, and can enjoy comparing our analyses with others, debating with those who loved a film we hated, or vice versa, etc., etc.But sometimes I just enjoy letting friends know about films I'd recommend to them which are funny or amusing or clever or just plain enjoyable.So in commenting on this picture, I would only say it's all of these.The story is fun, the performances outstanding, and the chemistry among the three leads is tremendous - both as a unit and in any of the three possible combinations of two of them together.All three provide outstanding performances, as well as the entire supporting cast. And if you regard this performance by Billy Bob Thornton, compared with his in "Bad Santa" and "Sling Blade" - and think for a moment of these three diverse characters - can there be any doubt that this man is as fine an actor as one is likely to encounter?