Bandits turns 25 this week, and Barry Levinson’s 2001 crime comedy-drama still stands out as a curious package: a buddy picture, a heist film, a romance, a road movie and a soundtrack that stretches from Bob Dylan to Bonnie Tyler. The robbers became known as the Sleepover Bandits, and the movie frames their story inside a fictional reality show. Here are eight details you may not have caught.
The Sleepover Bandits earned their name
Joe and Terry break out of Oregon State Penitentiary in a concrete mixing truck and start a bank robbing spree. Their modus operandi is the memorable part: they kidnap the manager of a target bank the night before a planned robbery, spend the night with the manager’s family, and walk into the bank with the manager the next morning. That routine gets them recognition on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list, and the reward for information leading to their capture is increased to $1 million.
The whole story is framed by a fake reality show
The film is told in flashbacks around the pair’s last robbery of the Alamo Bank, as covered by Criminals at Large, a fictional reality television show. The show’s host, Darren Head, is played by Bobby Slayton, and the interview segments were filmed at the Sheats–Goldstein Residence. In that taped interview, Joe and Terry claim Kate was only a hostage, not a participant.
It travelled across around 60 locations
Bandits was filmed at around 60 different locations in Oregon and California. Oregon scenes used Broadway Bridge in Portland, Lake Oswego, Oregon City, Silverton, Salem and Oregon State Penitentiary. California shooting stretched through Mill Valley, San Anselmo, Tomales, Marshall, Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Tomales Bay, Dillon Beach, Bodega Bay, Nick’s Cove, Point Montara Lighthouse, Half Moon Bay and Salinas.
Opening weekend was a strong second
In its opening weekend, the film opened at #2, behind Training Day, earning $13 million. It beat out fellow newcomer Corky Romano by just over four million dollars.
The budget and gross tell two different stories
The film grossed $67.6 million worldwide, against a budget of $75 million. Another report suggests a budget of $80 million, with domestic Box Office of $41,575,141 and overseas Box Office of $26,056,762.
Critics split, but Billy Bob Thornton stole the show
On Rotten Tomatoes, 64% of 138 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.1 out of 10. Metacritic assigned a weighted average score of 60 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating mixed or average reviews. Time Out wrote that Thornton ‘stole the show in this film with a wonderfully funny physical performance and fine-tuned, consistent timing.’ Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the movie 2 stars out of possible 4, praising the main performances but criticizing the uneven tone.
The soundtrack had two Bonnie Tyler power ballads
The soundtrack list includes ‘Holding Out for a Hero’ and ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’, both written by Jim Steinman and performed by Bonnie Tyler. It also features ‘All the Tired Horses’ by Bob Dylan, ‘Just the Two of Us’ by Bill Withers and Grover Washington Jr., ‘Walk On By’ by Dionne Warwick and ‘Beautiful Day’ by U2.
The final job hid a rescue in plain sight
At the end, the real story behind the last job is revealed. Harvey used special effects to make it seem as though Terry and Joe shot each other, then paramedic disguises, a fire suit, a rigged bomb and an ambulance crash made officials believe the bodies burned beyond recognition. Kate receives the $1 million reward for having turned them in, and the team is reunited.
Which of these Bandits details did you spot the first time? Tell us the fact you’ll be quoting at your next movie night.
Facts from Wikipedia: Bandits (2001 film), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Film images from TMDB. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.
