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Directed by Barry Levinson, starring Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton

Like taking a bunch of small children to a shopping mall, Bandits pulls you in so many different directions trying to get you to follow, even if you can't get as enthusiastic as those pulling you along. Occasionally very funny, this Barry Levinson-directed crime caper features three genuinely likeable characters but it's a film that thinks it's a lot cleverer and funnier than it really is. In addition, to making you laugh, it also wants to be taken ever-so-seriously, like a goateed comedian who finishes every punchline with: "Ahh, it makes you think, doesn't it."

Joe (Bruce Willis) and Terry (Billy Bob Thornton) are two convicts of opposite demeanors. Joe is the handsome, strong guy and Terry is the smart, sensitive, hypochondriac guy. After breaking out of the big house with a cement truck, the duo go on a bank-robbing spree using the cunning plan of kidnapping the bank manager by night and then peacefully relieving the bank of its booty the next morning. A spanner is thrown in the works, however, when bored housewife Kate (Cate Blanchett) becomes involved with the pair, who both fall for her ditzy charms.

Thornton's Terry is one hellava creation. He talks like Woody Allen, makes just as many quips and suffers from terribly strange ailments - such as a fear of antique furniture. Willis thankfully underplays his part and is careful not to lend Joe too much machismo. As for Blanchett, her best scenes are with Thornton as these are the only times when she's not overdoing it. In an attempt to prize pathos from its thin story, Bandits reaches too far, but even then it's hard to dislike the fugitive trio. Ben Davey

All The King's Men

Directed by Steve Zaillian, starring Sean Penn, Jude Law

I didn't know if it was just me so I sought a second, and then third, opinion. Did my ears fail me or was Sean Penn, starring as a fictional Louisiana Governor, mumbling big chunks of dialogue? The second and third listener agreed, he was, and so for several scenes in Steve Zaillian's adaptation of Robert Penn Warren's novel, All The King's Men, I was leaning forward to try and catch what Penn was saying. And then I had to try and figure out what exactly was actually going on with the movie.

This is the story of demagogue-firebrand politician Willie Stark (Penn) and how the power he was granted by appealing to the underprivileged eventually led to his own corruption.

The film is partly narrated by his spin doctor Jack Burden (Jude Law), an ex journalist who grew up among the rich and powerful. Stark sees Burden's background as a way to access his wealthy enemies and critics, which include Jack's childhood mentor, Judge Irwin (Anthony Hopkins). Jack's standing with the governor also threatens his relationship with old friends (Mark Ruffalo and Kate Winslet).

Told in a convoluted, blustery manner, All The Kings Men is an awkward political drama furnished with hammy performances (that means you Mr Penn and Mr Hopkins), showy camerawork and a score that wants to reassure us that we are watching an "important" film. Key questions of the plot, such as why the governor is being impeached, are never answered and Stark's corruption seems somewhat trivial by the standard of today's leaders. BD

(China Daily 08/10/2007 page20)