By EWAN McDONALD
(Herald rating: * * )
Joe (Bruce Willis) and Terry (Billy Bob Thornton) break out of prison by stealing a cement truck and, to finance their dream of owning a nightclub in Mexico, set up in business as bank robbers, with a yellow highlighter pen as their only
weapon.
Terry has a Unique Selling Point for their business: they will take bank managers hostage in their homes on the night before a job so they can get into the bank before it opens in the morning. This is a good plan because it works, they steal a lot of loot and stay on the run for an amazing time. They become "The Sleepover Bandits", stars of the tabloid TV show Criminals At Large.
It begins to fall apart when they go to work on a bank executive who is married to Kate (Cate Blanchett). The boys take Kate hostage and — eventually — she becomes their lover. Yes, both of them: she can't choose. She likes Joe (Willis) because he's brave, strong and handsome, and Terry (Thornton) because he's sensitive and cute.
Directed by Barry Levinson (Wag the Dog, Good Morning Vietnam, Rain Man) and written by Harley Peyton (Twin Peaks), the movie is told in flashback. It begins with the news that the two men have been shot dead after one of their raids went wrong.
In an exclusive interview with a TV host shortly before that shootout Joe and Terry tell the story of their career and say Kate was an innocent hostage and not a fellow criminal. Eventually the film works its way back to the fatal robbery.
Lots of good ideas and more than a few laughs, but the movie (and the boys) fail because both try to be too clever.
• DVD features: movie (123min); alternate ending; deleted scenes; short feature.
Rental video, DVD: Today
