Bandits

Updated June 26, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

Bandits is a lazy, lighthearted film from prolific director Barry Levinson. It romps through Bonnie and Clyde territory with the odd ménage à trois of Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, and Cate Blanchett. Blanchett's a dissatisfied housewife who encounters Joe and Terry (Willis and Thornton) on their bank robbing spree. She joins the quirky buddies and a love triangle quickly emerges. (Each is distinctly offbeat in that Hollywood way—sporting the kind of weird personality traits writers decide upon after consulting a target marketing group.) Meanwhile, a real-crime TV show is turning the bandits' escapades into a media sensation.

The actors are all game. Indeed, goofy but game best summarizes the film. Bandits cribs many elements from other movies about robbing banks and driving across the country. But small moments of originality shine through, most often when Billy Bob Thornton's hypochondriac character is jabbering away.