Barry Levinson’s 2001 film Bandits is one of those underappreciated gems that represents Hollywood entertainment at its most complete. The three leads – Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thorton and Cate Blanchett – are all at the top of their respective games and the chemistry in this ménage à trois is superb. The script is a tight, well-balanced mix of action, awkward romance and clever humor. It utilizes a well-selected soundtrack of top-notch talent (Dylan, Page/Plant, Knopfler) that is effectively integrated into the narrative, most particularly with two tracks by Bonnie Tyler (we’ll get to this in a second).

Over the years, I’ve wondered why this film hasn’t been more regarded and better known. I got the answer today when I looked up its’ release date: October 12, 2001 – just barely a month after 9/11. America was collectively still very much in a state of shock and this sort of divertissement was no doubt going to fall flat in the public arena no matter how well-crafted it was. Bandits had a sizable budget of $75 million, but ultimately made less than that in worldwide receipts after its release, rendering it a commercial flop. With its’ major A-list Hollywood provenance, it seems unlikely that it’ll ever see a second life the way some plucky low-budget cult classics do. This is too bad, as it is a textbook example of a well-executed Hollywood project, a very enjoyable watch and quite quotable. (“You know the hardest thing about being smart? (No) I always pretty much know what is going to happen next. There’s no suspense.”)

I love a great character introduction and Bandits contains, in my opinion, one of the greatest of all-time. Cate Blanchett’s introduction as Kate Wheeler is the gold standard against which I gauge all character entrances. She quite literally sets the table both for her role and for the narrative of the film with a Bonnie Tyler-driven medley that begins with a manic, exuberant dinner preparation set to ‘I Need a Hero’, à la Flashdance, that then careens sideways to ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ as she escapes her dismissive husband in a Mercedes. The two scenes together run about five minutes, but it does exactly what you need in a character introduction. It tells you who Kate Wheeler is, where’s she’s at and deftly foreshadows where she is going. It’s also absurdly entertaining.

Overall, I find the Bandits roughly on par with more widely regarded (and one of my personal faves) Midnight Run, released a dozen years prior. You’ll find any number of parallels between the two – both present as an action comedy featuring A-list leading men in an odd couple buddy flick being pursued around the West by both police and third-parties that culminates in a hectic, but orchestrated, final confrontation. Throw in an awkward love triangle anchored by Cate Blanchett and you have a recipe for an enjoyable 123 minutes of Hollywood entertainment.

Do try and check Bandits out. A DVD copy of the film is available on our ‘Greenville Drive-In Picks’ shelf at Variety Video. Enjoy.

Special Mention Character Entrances

Eugene Hütz as ‘Alex’ in Everything is Illuminated

Hütz is primarily known to the world for being the lead singer of the gypsy-punk band Gogol Bordello, but he did do a turn as a lead character in Liev Schreiber’s 2005 film adaptation of the novel Everything is Illuminated in Schreiber’s debut as a director. Hütz won’t be winning an Oscar for his acting ability anytime soon, but his earnestly off-beat introduction as the errantly loquacious Ukrainian street hustler-translator Alex and the movie’s narrator is memorably epic and further endeared Hütz to me as a colorful, multi-faceted talent.

Richard Ayoade as Jamarcus in The Watch

This is a gut-bustingly filthy character introduction by Richard Ayoade. I’ve loved him since his role as Moss in the British series The IT Crowd and I had very high hopes for The Watch, as it put Ayoade in a comedy quartet with Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn and Jonah Hill. While the film has occasional flashes of what it could have been with these four comic talents, it is not a great movie. Nonetheless, Ayoade introducing himself at the first neighborhood watch meeting never fails to kill me, even though I know what is coming. His timing and delivery are perfect.

Some movies, like The Watch or the previously discussed Times Square, are worth the view as the cinematic misses can sometimes be as fascinating as the hits. It’s definitely a shame that The Watch didn’t land well. I was hoping that the inclusion of Ayoade in a major American comedy like this would have springboarded his profile here in the U.S. in the sort of way his fellow The IT Crowd castmate Matt Berry has done with What We Do in the Shadows. Here’s hoping Ayoade gets another crack at it one of these days.

You can find copies of The Watch and Everything is Illuminated on our “Greenville Drive-in Picks” shelf at Variety Video.