Bandits [DVD]

Escaping from prison in a cement truck, rugged ladies-man Joe (Bruce Willis) and neurotic hypochondriac Terry (Billy Bob Thornton), find themselves criminal celebrities when they come upon a new way of robbing banks - sleeping over at the house of their victims the night before the heist. With paradise firmly in mind - a nightclub in Acapulco - the affable robbers target bank managers, sleep over, then catch a ride into work before robbing it. Their modus operandi garners them the moniker of the “Sleepover bandits.” Trouble ensues when the men separate and make their own way to the rendezvous. Terry runs out of petrol and ends up being “kidnapped” by manic-depressive housewife Kate (Cate Blanchett), who accidentally hits him with her car. Eager to make it up to him and nonplussed at being removed from her loveless marriage, Kate calls herself a bandit too - but not before endearing herself to both men who fall in love with her. Told in flashback and presented as part of a tell all scoop on “Criminals at large”, “Bandits” also features Troy Garity as Joe’s cousin; getaway driver, wannabe stuntman and pursuer of a mystery female hitchhiker. A curious blend of comedy, action and road movie, “Bandits” was originally intended as an adaptation of the Elmore Leonard book of the same name. Instead, the script was completely rewritten by Harvey Peyton (Twin Peaks).