neumu [ cinematronic ]




	Bandits
	Barry Levinson Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Cate Blanchett 2001 Widescreen; closed caption; English, French, Spanish, Portuguese audio tracks; Spanish, French, Portuguese, English subtitles; deleted/alternate scenes including an alternate ending; "Inside Bandits" featurette; filmmakers workshop; music video "Superman" by Five for Fighting.		There's no shortage of acting firepower and on-screen charisma from Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton and Cate Blanchett, and there's assured direction from Barry Levinson ("Diner," "Rain Man," etc.) behind the camera. Despite all the talent in play, this diverting action comedy about two notorious, decidedly offbeat bank robbers (Willis and Thornton) and the hostage (Blanchett) who loves them both doesn't really leave much of an impression. It's a little too long, its denouement is a little too easy to unravel and its whimsical central triangle is a little too familiar. (Truffaut's "Jules & Jim" offers a threesome with more emotional resonance.) There's a framing device with the robbers being interviewed on an "America's Most Wanted"-type TV show, but that's superfluous. Watching the bandits plan capers, charm victims and fall for their hostage is passing fun. But, in the end, the real thief is Blanchett as the newly liberated housewife who develops a taste for the fugitive life. She steals the film.