They’re a different kind of threesome in this 2001 action/comedy written by Harley Peyton (Twin Peaks) and directed by Barry Levinson (The Natural). Starring Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton as bank robbers and a red-headed Cate Blanchett as an unstable and ignored wife, Bandits is a fun ride. After an impromptu prison break involving stealing a concrete mixing truck, Joe Blake (Willis) and Terry Collins (Thornton) go on the run. Joe is the sly handsome one who loves the ladies, and Terry is a first-class hypochondriac.
They first hide out at a house with a teenage couple as hostages and steal their car. Terry comes up with a plan to surveil each bank they rob beforehand. The duo gather personal information on the manager and then show up at their house, taking them hostage overnight and then accompanying them to work in the morning before the bank opens (that way there are no guards or customers to contend with). They are given the moniker “Sleepover Bandits” in the press. They also are constantly wearing different wigs and mustaches to disguise themselves. Their getaway driver is Harvey Pollard (a hilarious Troy Garity), a not-too-bright would-be stuntman. Their goal in all this is to escape to Mexico and open a resort with their stash.
Along the way, Terry encounters Kate Wheeler (Cate Blanchett), who is running away from a bad marriage. Their “meet cute” comes when he tries to hijack her car and she hits him instead. As she drives erratically, Terry wants out and pulls a gun on her. Her response is “Believe me, it would be an improvement.” Terry tells her she’s insane with her explaining “No, I’m unhappy, it’s not the same thing.” He describes Kate as mentally unbalanced to a spectacular degree. They arrive at a cabin in the woods where Joe and Harvey are hiding out, and Terry convinces them to let her stay for 24 hours. This results in an It Happened One Night reference when Joe puts up a makeshift divider curtain on the bed. But before long the curtain falls and Joe and Kate make love.
Coming back from another heist, Joe and Terry are in a car accident, and the foursome splits up. For two weeks Terry and Kate are alone together and suddenly they are an item. When they are reunited, Terry reveals his romantic intentions towards her to Joe and the two “partners” fight over her, with Terry pleading “let me keep her.” But Kate loves them both and doesn’t want to choose.
All this is told in flashback as Joe and Terry’s current predicament is being stuck in a bank with hostages, surrounded by police and SWAT teams outside, a no-win situation. Joe swears he won’t be taken alive. Is he? The clever ending ties everything up in a neat bow. All the leads are good, but Billy Bob Thornton is in a class by himself. His portrayal of the obsessive-compulsive oddball Terry and his ever-changing use of wigs provide some of the biggest laughs in the film. Troy Garity said he based his characterization of Harvey, the loyal henchman, on his mother Jane Fonda’s golden retriever (that tracks). Look for January Jones as a mysterious hitchhiker that catches Harvey’s eye. All the bank managers held hostage in their homes provide some laughs also. One is even happy to be chosen.