Bad Billy

This movie is hurt. Bad. You probably can't really blame any of the actors, although they were all bad. Most of them have done fantastic work elsewhere, so you've got to figure they were just giving the director what he wanted. The deal is that the filmmakers were shooting for camp. This is fairly dangerous, because when you miss, you are left with a boring disaster. That's what happened here. Even the sex scenes were bad and boring. (Although, I did see the R-rated version, not the original.) Don't waste your time. Grade: F

I didn't know what to make of this movie until the end when I figured out that this could be a nice graphic novel.

All people that the main character interacts have an over-the-top cynism that turns them into comic book characters. The whole feels like aimed at edgy teenagers. I can frame in my head comic pages in the most typical 90's fashion using most of the scenes. Even the visuals have mostly hard shadows with lots of contrast.

But that's my wild interpretation. The movie doesn't implies that and feels very offbeat despite being a competent production with well know actors.

Speaking of 'offbeat', my main motivation to watch this was to check Stewart Copeland's musical score out of sheer curiosity after wathing the drama 'Raining Stones' that he also scored. It's terrible. The main opening has this terrible opera singer over synthetized music that incompetently drives the movie. Dude can't write a compelling melody and it drags down this movie even more.

It's long been my opinion that many movies considered "bad" by most people (that aren't flat-out incompetent) are, in fact, merely "awkward" and could've been improved by some judicious editing. Gigli and Moment by Moment were both examples of this "sub-genre" of critically trashed movies. As is Bank Robber.

The premise is intriguing and makes a solid statement about greed, the media and the era (early 90s). The well-casted and underrated Patrick Dempsey gives a wonderful performance of Billy, an inept bank robber who fails to get his picture off the News. I especially liked the scene where a drug dealer unexpectedly turns up at Billy's hotel room and cons the non-druggie hero into using drugs as a form of blackmail. The dream sequences that other reviewers had trouble with are difficult to defend at first glance, but the more one thinks about them, the more they reflect the true nature of dreams and Billy's descent into madness.

There are many wonderful touches and moments in this stylish, funny film, but they are buried underneath segments where the filmmaker didn't seem to know what worked and what didn't. The film is about one or two scenes too long for its premise (but considering that this is a rather short film to begin with, perhaps they were intended as padding), spending too much time on the cops (an ill-used Judge Reinhold and Forest Whitaker) in pursuit of Billy and less time on more interesting characters.

The most grievous error in the film is the overlong segment where Billy is interviewed by an obnoxious TV reporter (Mariska Hargitay). The film treats this sequence as if it's a turning point for all involved, but the problem is, the film seems to forget all about it once the scene is over. The scene is so jarring and unnecessary that it puts a dark cloud over the rest of the film, including parts that would've worked much better without it.

The ending took me a couple of viewings to get because the explanation is buried under half-mumbled dialogue. Also, as with the rest of the film, it repeats itself and goes on too long. However, this film is definitely an original in a world of copycats (especially when compared against the cinema of over twenty-five years later), and thus its weaknesses are *almost* forgivable just because it's refreshing to see films that take chances, even if it's so obscure that most people have never heard of it, much less seen it...

William Elliot aka Billy the Kid (Patrick Dempsey) is a romantic and decides to do one last bank robbery solo for girlfriend Selina (Olivia d'Abo). Security camera captures his picture and he's identified right away. The bank claims his take at $178k, but most of which the bankers are stealing themselves. Billy tries to hide in his Heartbreak Hotel room but his neighbors realize his identity. Everybody starts overcharging him for everything from pizza to drugs despite not ordering any of it. Priscilla (Lisa Bonet) is a friendly hooker. Officers Gross (Judge Reinhold) and Battle (Forest Whitaker) get high. TV reporter Marisa Benoit (Mariska Hargitay) shows up at Billy's door with her crew.

I think writer/director Nick Mead wanted this to be a funny satire of a crime noir. None of it is funny. It also has no tension as a thriller. It looks cheap and badly made. The amazing thing is the number of solid actors in this movie. The writing is simply bad and the filming is amateurish. It's a rambling mess that adds up to nothing.

Bank Robber is a rare gem of a film that mixes dark comedy with extreme social significance. The cast is an excellent eclectic mix of the serious and surreal, a bit like the film really. It has some really funny moments and some very sexy ones. The erotic stuff only lasts a few minutes but stays with you for a long time. Lisa Bonet has never been better. Patrick Dempsey, unfortunately, phones it in. It needed a Sean Penn or a Tim Roth to really make it work. Direction is good, cinematogrophy excellent and it is conceptionally intriguing, with most of the action taking place in the one room. Rent it, or if your lucky see it on the big screen late night. It's a cult film.