Review 148: Band of Robbers (2015)

I’m a fan of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. In fact, I taught Huckleberry Finn to my Inquiry Skills class about five years ago. When I heard Band of Robbers was a modern take on the stories of Mark Twain I knew I had to watch it. Finding out it was on Netflix put it high on my que, so after a long day I decided it was time to give it a watch. Band of Robbers was quite funny, alluded to many aspects of the story, and was cut together very well placing it in the Not Quite Golden, Ponyboy rating.

Band of Robbers steals great moments from Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer…in a good way!

Huck Finn (Kyle Gallner) has a troubled past and really only looks at Tom Sawyer (Adam Nee) as family. After getting out of prison, Huck is looking to make a change in his life, and while Tom has become a police officer, he’s still looking for adventure. Despite being grown men, Tom convinces Huck it’s not too late to find the treasure that has alluded them since childhood, and subsequently forms the Band of Robbers.

This movie has Hannibal Buress, as Ben Rodgers, who continues to make any movie he is in funnier. The four core friends of Huck, Tom, Joe (Matthew Gray Gubler), and Ben make for some great comedy moments. Huck feels relatively under utilized, but he is able to convey a lot of his desires through facial expressions and mannerisms. Tom steals the show as this is heavily based on the Tom Sawyer book more than Huck’s, but there are references to both stories.

After Tom reveals he has a new lead on the long lost treasure, the group plans a heist. Given the nature of the characters, their plan has several wrenches thrown into it and things don’t quite go the way they’re planned. The biggest hitch in the plan is Tom’s new rookie partner that’s assigned to him as he’s off to the heist. Becky Thatcher (Melissa Benoist), daughter of the town’s judge, arrival to the location of the heist is one of many unexpected challenges the group faces. While the heist is technically a success initial, how it plays out is quite awesome. The mystery they discover is fun and well paced and the jokes along the way are quite funny.

While the film isn’t a must see, it’s definitely one that is worth checking out. There are lots of good moments and if you’re a fan of the books it’s an interesting homage to them. Band of Robbers is a fun 1hr and 35 minutes with minimal bad language and violence so it could be a cool way of introducing younger people to Huck and Tom.