Band of Robbers (2015)

Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn are grown men, still searching for the hidden treasure that has eluded them since childhood.

Directors:

Aaron Nee, Adam Nee

Writers:

Aaron Nee, Adam Nee

Stars:

Kyle Gallner, Adam Nee, Matthew Gray Gubler

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kyle Gallner	...	Huck Finn
Adam Nee	...	Tom Sawyer
Matthew Gray Gubler	...	Joe Harper
Melissa Benoist	...	Becky Thatcher
Daniel Edward Mora	...	Jorge Jiminez
Eric Christian Olsen	...	Sid Sawyer
Hannibal Buress	...	Ben Rogers
Stephen Lang	...	Injun Joe
Johnny Pemberton	...	Tommy Barnes
Cooper Huckabee	...	Muff Potter
Lee Garlington	...	Lieutenant Polly
Beth Grant	...	Widow Douglas
Creed Bratton	...	Dobbins
Jeff Newburg	...	Pap Finn
Gabriel Bateman	...	Young Huck Finn

Storyline

A comedic adventure that re-imagines Mark Twain's iconic literary characters of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer as grown men in current day. Petty criminal Huck Finn hopes to leave his criminal life behind when he is released from a stint in prison, but his lifelong friend, and corrupt cop, Tom Sawyer, has other plans. Not ready to give up on his childhood fantasies of wealth and adventure, Tom forms the "Band of Robbers," recruiting their misfit friends Joe Harper and Ben Rogers, to join them for an elaborate plan to find a fabled treasure. But the plan soon unravels, thrusting the guys on a wild journey with dangerous consequences...

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Plot Keywords:

robbery | treasure | mexican laborer | coming of age | arrested development | 

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Taglines:

Tom and Huck are all grown up. Sort of...

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Instagram

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 April 2016 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Банда грабителей

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$14,827, 17 January 2016, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$20,555, 21 January 2016

Company Credits

Production Co:

Torn Sky Entertainment, Whitewater Films, Blacklist Digital

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original story of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn was released in 1876

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Quotes

Injun Joe: Sorry to interrupt. My name is Joe. What's your name?
Joe Harper: Joe.
Injun Joe: That's pretty interesting man. We got the same name, we're in the same car... that's life I guess, three meals a day and funny moments like these.
Joe Harper: You're... you're Injun Joe.
Injun Joe: Some people call me that.
Joe Harper: Why do they call you that if you're not even native american?
Injun Joe: I guess I just identify with the culture and the aesthetic.
Joe Harper: Isn't that kind of racist?
Injun Joe: How is it racist to want to be more like another race?

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Crazy Credits

[Title Card] Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.

• Mark Twain

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Soundtracks

Bermuda Waterfall
Written & Performed by Sean Nicholas Savage (SOCAN)
Published by Domino Publishing Company of America Inc. (BMI)
Courtesy of Arbutus Records by Arrangement with Riptide Music Group

User Reviews

The modern day Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer treasure hunt re-imagining is loads of good ol' fun

Classic characters from perhaps the greatest literary work of American literature, Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer have hit the big screen, in a re-imagining that takes their mischievously- intentioned, hero-of-the-story selves, keeps a driving plot about finding a mythic treasure, and leaves the rest behind – and to good-spirited, well-earned fun in the new film, 'Band of Robbers'.

It should be stated early, there's not a whole lot that 'Robbers' truly, truly, lifts from Mark Twain's classic novel or characters other than using the characters' likeliness and winning charms to drop them into this new culture mash-up. It's really just the story of a version of a Huck Finn (Kyle Gallner) and a Tom Sawyer (Adam Nee), where Huck is a recent prison release looking to make clean and Tom is a wily cop whose adventure-seeking ways leads to his character's charming but still law-skirting flirtations, and through this all, they still remain the best of friends, along with a band of other self-affirmed misfit pirate pals.

The faces and talents enlisted here are truly where the comedy shines. It has the taste of 21 Jump Street comic-firing and timing of every-line-a-joke (and mostly bulls eye's at that), uses some familiar faces and some not-so, in playing a winning hand. Kyle Gallner as Huck is a Jeremy Renner and Rick Grimes a la The Walking Dead, where Adam Nee is as much as stand- out in a role that he knows so well. The geek-beloved Matthew Gray Gubler as Joe Harper, along with Hannibal Burress as Ben Rogers add a deep bench to the effort, with Burress (and "Greg…Knife" nailing every one of his scenes). Melissa Benoist and Eric Christian Olsen also star as little-used Becky Thatcher, Tom's new partner on the day of the planned heist (mention heist) and Sid Sawyer, beloved detective who plays it maybe a bit too straight.

Written and directed by brother filmmaking team Aaron and Adam Nee, 'Robbers' went through many years of development (including an idea of it being a TV show) before finally having its world premiere at the LA Film Festival. One wonders what following that version of Huck, Tom, and company may have been like, and what many adventures they may have spun in and out of in sit-com fashion. But its final format of a ninety-five-minute feature film feels like the best use of its talent, sparing any over-indulgence in what could have flopped as a gimmick and succeeds as a send-up that breathes fresh life into an American classic.