Bandits

(2001) dir. Barry Levinson
viewed: 08/24/02

I don’t have a lot to offer on this film.

I tend to think of Barry Levinson as one of the potentially interesting directors working in Hollywood over the past 20+ years, though it has to be said that, when looking at the body of his work, there is a lot more junk there than quality. However, in saying that, I don’t think that this film falls into either of those two categories specifically.

It’s an entertaining film that seems to try to ride the line between a more naturalistic, character-driven movie and a more broadly comedic one. Not to say that those two characteristics are mutually exclusive,…but in this film they seem to clash more than mesh. It winds up offering an odd tone to it, though it certainly has some pretty amusing parts to it.

Levinson is interested in genre (the heist film) and character, though I am hard-pressed to pinpoint what it is the characters are meant to represent. They are clearly folk hero-style “bandits,” wanted by the law but admired by the masses since they are non-violent and generally nice guys. They end up accepting unconventional lifestyles pretty readily…

I don’t know. I won’t press it.

My favorite thing was the wig-changing motif, which was a simple and funny running sight-gag.