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PLOT: The true story of Canada’s infamous “Flying Bandit” Gilbert Galvan Jr (Josh Duhamel). A jail escapee from the U.S, Galvan makes his strategy to Canada and makes an attempt to go straight. However, as soon as he falls in love with a neighborhood lady (Elisha Cuthbert Jr) and discovers he has a child on the best way, he turns to financial institution theft to make ends meet. To his amazement, he has a pure, uncanny reward for having the ability to knock over banks with out injuring anybody, and as soon as he will get financing from a neighborhood powerful man (Mel Gibson), the sky is the restrict. For some time anyway…
REVIEW: I used to be cautious of watching Bandit. Why? The story is an effective one, and the solid is promising, however I’ve been burned by many star-driven crime films recently, notably ones with big names like Mel Gibson in supporting roles, as they have a tendency to fall into the Randall Emmett camp of DTV films. Have any of these been any good, ever? That’s why Bandit was a shock, with director Allan Ungar’s film clearly a ardour venture for all concerned (who made the well-received Uncharted Live Action Fan Film a couple of years again). It has nothing in widespread with the likes of Panama or Cosmic Sin, with it as an alternative telling a compelling true story that must be greater on individuals’s radar than it presently is.
It helps that Ungar’s obtained himself a stable main man to play Galvan. Josh Duhamel has been always pigeonholed in rom-coms or as third-fiddle in films like Transformers, however he’s terrific right here. He’s by no means gotten this juicy a task to sink his enamel into, with him having the correct of film star appeal and swagger to play the high-flying Galvan. We’re imagined to imagine that Galvan was charming sufficient to have the ability to rob fifty-plus banks with out utilizing violence, and Duhamel performs him as an primarily first rate man. He will get a rush from robbing banks however doesn’t need to harm anybody. Slightly than use worry or intimidation, he depends on a sequence of disguises and costume modifications that may’t assist however make even his pursuers admire him.
Bandit actually does subvert expectations, particularly as soon as Mel Gibson enters the fray because the underworld fixer he will get concerned in. Normally, in a criminal offense thriller like this, the Gibson character would threaten Galvan or his household, however, maybe more true to the info, he can’t assist however admire the person and even turn into one thing of a good friend to him, albeit one which has his personal pursuits at coronary heart. Gibson is totally engaged by the half, with Ungar exploiting his well-known irascibility with a humorous recurring bit the place he rants about MTV and Boy George (the film takes place within the mid-eighties).
Notably, the movie, set in Canada, was shot in Louisiana because of the pandemic, however (talking as a Canadian), you couldn’t actually inform. If something, I appreciated that this one is the one movie I’ve seen about Canada the place of us aren’t always saying “eh” to one another. The solid is note-perfect, with Elisha Cuthbert extremely interesting as Galvan’s spouse, who’s conscious of what he’s doing and doesn’t totally disapprove. The usually under-used Nestor Carbonell additionally has a stable half because the cop chasing Galvan, and in a departure from the norm, he’s portrayed fairly sympathetically. They even included some nods in the direction of Carbonell’s well-known eyelashes, with individuals asking him time and again if he’s sporting eyeliner.
Whereas made on a funds, all concerned made a reasonably slick film, with an amazing soundtrack that features the good “Oh Yeah” by Yello within the climax and, nodding in the direction of the Canadian side, some interval CanCon hits by Trooper and Doug & the Slugs.
My solely difficulty with Bandit is that at simply over two hours, I can’t assist however really feel it goes on slightly too lengthy. They in all probability might have shaved twenty minutes or so to provide it extra of a kinetic tempo, however then once more, I can’t say it ever actually lags. Additionally, I’m not too keen on it when films present the actual individual the movie was primarily based on throughout the wrap-up, as for me, it all the time breaks the film’s spell. A easy epilogue does the trick, for my part. All that stated, I had an excellent time with Bandit, which is actually under no circumstances the DTV entry some are dismissing it as. It’s an actual film, with Duhamel ok within the lead that, have been sufficient individuals to see it, might change the best way he’s regarded as an actor. He’s performed light-weight many instances, however Bandit proves he can simply rise to the problem when given a meatier half.