The Sunday Night Movie Review – “Bandit”

The longest string of consecutive robberies in Canadian history gets the silver screen treatment in Bandit. This 2022 release stars Josh Duhamel as the dapper Gilbert Galvan, or Robert Lee Whiteman, his new alias after a Michigan jail break. Skrypt and Shona chatted in studio about this riveting Sunday night movie. 

In 1984, Galvan escapes from a Michigan prison after being found guilty of embezzlement. He crosses the border into Canada and so begins his three year spree of bank robberies that earn him the media nickname ‘The Flying Bandit’. This loosely biographical action comedy is based largely on interviews and accounts featured in the 1996 true crime book The Flying Bandit by Robert Knuckle with Ed Arnold.

Elisha Cuthbert and Mel Gibson star alongside Duhamel who has received high praise for his performance as Galvan, with some saying it is his best performance yet. While being hunted by a police taskforce, the movie takes an intimate and unconventional look into the everyday life of a career criminal and his motivation for pursuing this lifestyle. 

Shona’s favourite part of the movie was how the cinematography style breaks through the 4th wall by talking to the audience directly. “I felt like I was part of the action,” said Shona. 

Skrypt wanted a little more depth from some of the robberies. After a while, he felt Galvan’s motivation for continuing to rob banks and jewellery stores wasn’t clear. He seems to become addicted to the lifestyle. Once Galvan pulls his new wife into the heists, Skrypt felt “Now you just being reckless”.

Catch the Sunday night movie on M-Net channel 102 or on Catch-up and join the morning show every Monday morning at 7:30 for their take.