The actors of the movie “Bandits” are famous Hollywood celebrities, and Luc Besson himself produced this picture . And this is not the only reason to watch the Western, released by Twentieth Century Fox in 2006. Does this picture have any other advantages and what is the plot of the “Bandit” interesting?
Filmmakers. Short story
The script for the movie Bandits was written by Luke Besson, the man who directed Nikita, Leon, and The Fifth Element. Besson also acted as a producer of the Western Bandits.
Actors in the film were selected according to the rank of its creator: the first roles were won by the first beauties of Hollywood - Spanish Penelope Cruz and Mexican Salma Hayek.
The project was supervised by the Twentieth Century Fox film company, which invited Joachim Roenning and Espen Sandberg to the director's chair.
Within an hour and a half, a story unfolds in front of the audience of two girls: by the will of the rock, the peasant Maria and the aristocrat Sarah are forced to fight together against the powerful American landowner, who was involved in the numerous killings and ruin of peasants in Mexico. Maria and Sarah are complete opposites, but they are united by a common grief, a thirst for justice and ... incredible beauty! And they will make Tyler Jackson regret that he stuck in Mexico!
"Bandits": actors and roles. Penelope Cruz as Mary
According to the plot, Maria Alvarez performed by Penelope Cruz is the daughter of a peasant whom the villain Tyler Jackson brutally kills. Moreover, Jackson takes away their land from the Alvarez, conditionally buying it for one dollar. Having burnt a little, Maria goes to rob a bank in order to obtain means of subsistence. There she meets another gangster, who turns out to be Sarah Sandoval. And although Sarah does not like Maria, she seems arrogant, the peasant woman is ready to join her efforts to restore justice, finally.
The film "Bandits", the actors and the roles of which, after the first viewing, are long remembered by the audience, did not play any special role in the career of Penelope Cruz: she started filming, already being a star of the first magnitude. The actress did an excellent job in the films Vanilla Sky, Cocaine, Gothic, Fanfulip. And after the “Bandits” Penelope starred in Woody Alain’s film “Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona”, for her work in which she received the long-awaited Academy Award.
"Bandits": actors, photo. Salma Hayek as Sarah
For the role of the educated aristocrat Sarah Sandoval, many candidates were considered. However, the producers preferred the sultry Hayek. And they were not mistaken: if the viewer was shown the actors of the movie “Bandits,” they would recognize Salma in two ways. The thing is that the actress knows how to choose memorable roles: either she plays the vampire Santanico Pandemonium in the cult film "From Dusk Till Dawn", then the passionate Esmeralda in the drama "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", and in 2002 appears in front of the audience in the image the most controversial artist of the XX century - Frida Kahlo.
In the gangster's western, the heroine of Salma Hayek lives a carefree, wealthy life in Europe until Tyler Jackson kills her banker father in Mexico. By chance, Sarah at this time just arrived home for the holidays and became a witness to the tragedy. Moreover, Tyler wanted to make Sarah his mistress, but the girl manages to escape from the city.
The next day, Sarah makes an attempt to rob her father’s bank in order to return back to Europe with the money she received. However, a meeting with Maria changes her whole future life.
Steve Zahn as Detective Quentin
In the movie Bandits, actors Steve Zan, Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek play accomplices. But the hero of Steve Zahn does not immediately join the robbers.
At the beginning of the film, Quentin Cook performed by Steve Zahn appears in the guise of a successful detective who strictly follows the letter of the law. When the bandits start robbing one bank after another, Tyler Jackson sees this as a threat to his plans and calls a promising detective in Mexico to catch the villains. However, when Quentin Cook gets to know the young women better, when they open his eyes to the atrocities of Tyler Jackson, he unexpectedly for himself takes the side of Sarah and Mary, although this will have irreversible consequences for his career.
This is not the first time Steve Zahn and Penelope Cruz met on the set: a year earlier, he starred in the action movie “Sahara” together with the Spanish actress . In 2003, the actor played a major role in the action movie "National Security", and in 2001, along with Paul Walker, appeared in the thriller "Wow Ride".
Dwight Yokem as Tyler Jackson
In the film “Bandits”, the actors Penelope Cruz, Steve Zan and Salma Hayek represent a team of heroes, against which the character Tyler Jackson performed by Dwight Yokem looks like an absolute evil.
Tyler Jackson is an American landowner who actively cranks his “dark” affairs in Mexico. When Sarah's father Sandoval begins to suspect something was wrong, Tyler brutally kills him. In the same way, he acts with Mexican peasants whose lands he needs: Jackson draws up fictitious papers about selling him land at a price of one dollar, and then kills the landowner so that he does not make unnecessary noise. Tyler is so self-confident that it comes as a surprise to him that two girls can interfere with his plans.
Dwight Yokem is actually an American country artist with more than 20 recorded albums. From time to time, the musician makes films: he can be seen in the films “Adrenaline” with Jason Statham, “Three Graves” with Tommy Lee Jones and “Hollywood Cops” with Harrison Ford.
Sam Shepard as Bill Buck
The actors of the movie “Bandits” (2006) attract additional attention to the film with their big names. The same can be said about Sam Shepard, who is not only an actor, but also a famous American playwright.
In 1983, Shepard played Chuck in the movie Philip Kaufman "Guys What They Need." For this role, Sam was nominated for an Oscar. Then the actor appeared in the films Criminal Intent, Steel Magnolias, Hamlet, Password The Swordfish, and The Memory Diary.
In The Bandits, Sam Shepard got the role of the cynical robber Bill Buck, whom Sarah and Maria turn to for help: they want Bill to teach them how to rob banks professionally. Buck did not immediately agree to this adventure, but subsequently his lessons taught the main characters a lot.
Premiere, Box Office
The actors of the movie “Bandits” presented the film for the first time in Belgium, Russia and France: the inhabitants of these countries saw the western on January 18, 2006. On January 20, the picture was shown in Armenia, and on January 17 in Mexico. In the US, viewers saw the film only in September, and then in a limited rental.
The budget of the picture was 32 million euros. At the box office managed to raise $ 20 million. Another 4 million was earned on the release of the DVD version of the film.
Movie Reviews
What else, besides world celebrities, may be interesting Western "Bandits"? Actors with well-known names are, of course, good, but to watch a movie, sometimes this is not enough. Meanwhile, viewers say they are ready to review the picture several times in a row.
Why not? The artists play quite convincingly, the plot is light and fascinating, the field shooting, Mexican landscapes and historical costumes are impressive. Of course, there are reviews according to which “Bandits” is a primitive picture, suitable for viewing only once. But such responses can be heard rarely.
Mostly people like the originality of the plot in Luke Besson’s film: after all, men often become fighters for justice in westerns and action films, and here women are, and even so attractive. In addition, the fascinating plot is flavored with a fair amount of humor, does not bother when viewed repeatedly, and allows the viewer to relax and rest. So lovers of female beauty, famously twisted plots and Mexican surroundings should definitely include the Western Bandits in their film library.