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Bandits - Special Edition

There's very little to laugh about in Barry Levinson's "Bandits," which wants to be comedy, caper, and romance all at the same time. Employing the talents of a superb cast and gaining the anticipation of audiences with a humorous theatrical trailer, the film is a striking disappointment, wasting the talent of those involved, while the trailer spoils the film's miniscule funny moments. ***

Beginning, appropriately enough, with a bank robbery, the film then segues into the past, where a TV news reporter is being held hostage and forced to do an interview with Joe Blake and Terry Collins (Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton), known as the Sleepover Bandits. From there, the remembrance of events goes even further, to the day that Joe and Terry escaped prison in a cement truck and began a robbing spree devoid of violence... who needs violence when you have comedy, right? ***

Wrong. The film possesses a small amount of comedic charm, which only begins to pick up once they are joined by repressed housewife Kate Wheeler (Cate Blanchett), whose husband seems more intent on having her as a dutiful wife than as a lover. She immediately takes a liking to Joe, but complications soon cross their path. Dissention soon sets in, and the movie seems intent to draw out moments that should have some emotional meaning, but are surprisingly flat. ***

The cast for "Bandits" is first rate, no doubt, but that may be one of the things wrong with it. Both Willis and Thornton give credible performances, even though Thornton's character is constantly irritating and becomes a pest, and Willis's subtle humor goes by without so much as a chuckle. Blanchett, as always, shines beyond measure, playing the housewife-gone-bandit to perfection. It is my belief that the film relies heavily on their talents, so much in fact that it loses focus from other key elements of the film. ***

That's not to say that "Bandits" doesn't possess a good story; the plot behind the cast borderlines on entertaining us, but never seems to take off as it should, as it trips over its own style of recollection storytelling. Perhaps this premise may have had more effect on me had there been any reason to develop an interest in it, but with the absence of humor on any level, and increasing twists that serve to add to an already lengthy running time, there's nothing of interest throughout much of the film. ***

A surprise ending, predictable yet enjoyable, cannot save "Bandits" from suffering under its own weight. Those of you who have seen the trailer would do better to enter the movie five minutes before it ends; for those of you who haven't, take this as fair warning. One almost wishes that the performances of Willis, Thornton and Blanchett could be extracted and grafted into another, more pleasing experience. But so it goes.

As far as images go, this one ranks as one of MGM's better efforts. The colors are preserved quite nicely, without becoming overly saturated or too drab. The edges are sharp, the overall picture devoid of noise or distractions, though some instances in which darkness is prevalent tend to exhibit weaknesses. The sound design is nice, mastered in Dolby 5.1, featuring some nice bass work in the opening chase sequence, and then making full use of dialogue and surrounds in later scenes.

How this title escaped with a "Special Edition" tag, I'll never know. Truth is, MGM has never been big on their DVD releases, and only in the last year or so have they truly started paying attention to supplemental material. "Bandits" is one such title, though there is significantly less here than on a title along the like of, say, "Legally Blonde." ***

It begins with a collection of four deleted scenes that are a boring and uninvolving as the movie itself. I liked the way in which they were laid out, though: moving the cursor between scenes gives you a synopsis of each scene before playing it. The alternate ending is evenm weirder than the movie itself: in it, Blanchett's character is pregnant, and we see her kissing (rather open-mouthed, I might add) both Thornton and Willis. So who's the daddy? ***

Next up are two features, the first being "Inside Bandits," which goes behind-the-scenes with interviews from producer Michael Birnbaum, writer Harley Peyton, director Barry Levinson, and cast members Willis, Thornton, and Blanchett. Things like character development, the script's real-life basis, and production are discussed in detail. In "Creating Scene 71," the scene in which Willis and Blanchett first kiss is broken down, and the different concepts envisioned for the scene are also mulled over. And then we have some theatrical trailers.