Line #19 Film/BandOfRobbers


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/band_of_robbers_trailer.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350: ''"Tom and Huck are all grown up...sort of..."'']]
3
4	->''"After so many years of chasing a fairy tale, most people would be ready to give up...But Tom Sawyer isn't most people..."''
5	-->-- '''Huck Finn'''
6
7	''Band of Robbers'' is a 2015 [[SettingUpdate modernization]] of ''Literature/TheAdventuresOfTomSawyer'' and ''Literature/AdventuresOfHuckleberryFinn'' by Creator/MarkTwain directed by siblings Adam & Aaron Nee (the former previously an ensemble cast member on ''Series/DrunkHistory''). The story draws heavily from Twain's classic novels, including characters, plot twists, and even dialogue.
8
9	Recently released ex-convict Huckleberry Finn (played by Kyle Gallner) is trying to "go straight", but his childhood friend, underachieving cop Tom Sawyer (played by Adam Nee), has other plans. The two form the "Band of Robbers" with their bumbling friends, Joe Harper (played by Matthew Gray Gubler) and Ben Rogers (played by Creator/HannibalBuress), and plan to rob a pawnshop where local legend Injun Joe (played by Creator/StephenLang) -- a vicious [[ForeignCultureFetish white criminal and treasure hunter who imitates Native American culture]] -- has stored a mysterious package that Tom's friend and contact Muff Potter (played by Cooper Huckabee) believes is the legendary [[PirateBooty Murrell's Treasure]], for which Tom and Huck have been searching since childhood; Tom uses the logic that robbing "bad guys" makes the Band "good guys". Things get complicated when Tom's commanding officer, Lieutenant Polly (played by Lee Garlington) -- who Tom, living under the shadow of his more successful detective half brother, Sid (played by Eric Christian Olsen), has frequently begged for more responsibility on duty -- assigns him to train Becky Thatcher (played by Creator/MelissaBenoist), his eager-to-please rookie partner, and the hung-over Band's heist goes awry. Tom is undaunted, however, and leads the Band on a wild treasure hunt from one mysterious clue to another. When Huck's friend, [[EthnicMenialLabor Mexican day laborer]] Jorge Jiminez (played by Daniel Edward Mora), who unknowingly served as the Band's driver during the heist, is mistaken as being a conspirator in their activities and arrested, Huck and Tom, on the run from a vengeful and murderous Injun Joe and the police, lead the band on a mission to rescue Jorge and be the heroes they always wanted to become.
10	----
11	!!Contains examples of:
12
13	* AbusiveParent: Pap Finn to Huck in the prologue.
14	* AdaptationDistillation / CompressedAdaptation
15	* AdaptationInspiration: Despite being based on ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' and ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'', the film tonally and stylistically, as well as in its premise of wannabe heist-pullers, resembles Creator/WesAnderson's ''Film/BottleRocket'' as well as the early films of Creator/TheCoenBrothers.
16	* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: Huck is noticeably more somber than in Twain's novels.
17	* AdaptationalContextChange: The AgeLift of the characters puts emphasis on the coming-of-age elements in Twain's novels.
18	* AdaptationalVillainy: Muff, an amiable ally towards Tom and Huck in Twain's ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'', [[DirtyCoward caves in to Injun Joe's threats]] and aids him in his search for Tom, Huck, and Murrell's treasure in the climax. [[spoiler: He also seems to suffer from DeathByAdaptation when he and Injun's henchman Packard drive Tom's squad car into the river, though this is not entirely confirmed as the event was offscreen.]]
19	* AgeLift: The film ''is'' about Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn ''as grown men''.
20	* TheAlcoholic: Muff Potter.
21	* AnotherStoryForAnotherTime: Huck says this about [[spoiler: his journey to take Jorge home in the epilogue]], though snippets are shown visually and it seems to be a [[MythologyGag reference to ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn''.]]
22	* BlackAndGreyMorality:
23	-->'''Tom:''' Think of it like this: Robin Hood...and his Merry Men: robbing from the rich, giving to the poor...keeping some money -- keeping the money?
24	-->'''Barnes:''' What, we're bad guys?
25	-->'''Tom:''' No, we're heroes --
26	-->'''Barnes:''' Sounds like -- sounds like bad guys...
27	-->'''Tom:''' When you steal from criminals, it makes stealing more of a good thing than a bad one, okay? Now if you wanna just hang on and I'll --
28	-->'''Ben:''' It's still illegal, though, right?...
29	* TheCaper
30	* CloudCuckoolander: Tom, Harper, and Ben; helps that Ben is played by '''''Hannibal Buress'''''.
31	* CostumePorn
32	* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Tom may be a doofus, but he is creative at the best of times, able to quickly come up with another possible solution for everything, and can be a great example of a GuileHero when he puts his mind to it.
33	* DemotedToExtra: Doc Robinson is killed just as quickly after his first appearance in ''Band of Robbers'' as he is in ''Tom Sawyer'', but plays a pivotal role in the plot of ''Tom Sawyer'', in which he also appears much earlier than in this film.
34	* DenserAndWackier: Pretty much most of the characters, ''especially'' the Band.
35	* TheDeterminator: Tom, and -- to a lesser extent -- Huck.
36	* DirtyCoward: Muff Potter.
37	* DisappearedDad: It's not mentioned where Pap Finn, Huck's dad, went after the scenes in which he appears in Tom and Huck's childhood, though notably Tom does tell Huck, "us orphans, we gotta stick together."
38	* DisneyDeath: In one of the most comedic examples perhaps ever, [[spoiler: Joe Harper.]]
39	* TheDragon: Packard to Injun Joe.
40	* DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler: Injun Joe is killed with a pistol by an elderly woman whose car he was attempting to hijack while chasing Tom and Huck.]]
41	* EasterEgg: A ''lot'' of them. These include:
42	** Tom's [[DaChief commanding officer]] is, according to her office door, named Lieutenant A. Polly, a reference to her counterpart Aunt Polly in ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer''.
43	** In ''Tom Sawyer'', Tom's schoolmaster is named Mr. Dobbins; in ''Band of Robbers'', Dobbins is the name of he owner of the pawnshop that the Band robs -- and is played by none other than Creed Bratton (of [[Series/TheOfficeUS ''The Office'']] and The Grass Roots)!
44	** In the film's epilogue, Huck's "adventure" to take Jorge home shows (though they are not named) two men who are clearly intended to be the characters of "The Duke" and "The King" from Twain's ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn''; As [[TheCameo cameos]], The King is played by filmmaker Rick Rosenthal (director of such flms as [[Film/HalloweenII1981 Halloween II]], ''Russkies'', ''Film/HalloweenResurrection'', the 1983 Creator/SeanPenn vehicle ''Bad Boys'', and ''The Birds II: Land's End'', and producer of ''BandOfRobbers'' itself), and The Duke by Zach Steel (the voice of Ronaldo on ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'').
45	** A lot of the climax takes place in the Hannibal Hotel; Hannibal, Missouri, was Mark Twain's hometown, and where he based the city in which ''Tom Sawyer'' and ''Huckleberry Finn'' were set on.
46	* {{Expy}}: An interesting variation -- despite Tom Sawyer being a previously established and well-known character, Adam Nee's version seems to almost be an expy of Owen Wilson's character Dignan from Creator/WesAnderson's film ''Film/BottleRocket''; it's essentially Nee drawing parallels between the two and bringing out the material's themes. In a more straightforward example, Becky seems to be one of -- oddly enough -- Leslie Knope from ''Series/ParksAndRecreation''.
47	* FanGirl: Joe Harper is practically Tom's groupie. Also, Becky Thatcher[[spoiler:, who ''asked'' to be assigned as Tom's partner.]]
48	* FauxAffablyEvil: Injun Joe spends some time having casual conversation with Joe Harper about such trivial topics as their shared first name, all while being fully prepared to kill Harper if necessary to find Tom and Huck's location.
49	* FlayingAlive: Injun Joe is known for scalping his victims.
50	* FreudianTrio: Tom is TheKirk, Huck is TheMcCoy, and Becky is TheSpock.
51	* TheFundamentalist: The Widow Douglas (played by Beth Grant) is a religious zealot.
52	* GenkiGirl: Becky Thatcher.
53	* TheHeart: Huck.
54	* HenpeckedHusband: Though they seem to be reasonably happy, Tommy Barnes seems to be one to his wife (and Tom's ex-fiancée) Amy Lawrence (played by Maria Blasucci).
55	* TheHermit: Muff.
56	* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Tom takes the fall for the Band's activities and creates a diversion to throw the police off in order to let the Band and Jorge escape.]]
57	-->'''Harper:''' That's pretty goddamn heroic, [[spoiler: Tom]]."
58	* HeterosexualLifePartners: Tom and Huck.
59	* IJustWantToBeBadass / IJustWantToBeSpecial: Tom.
60	* IJustWantToBeNormal: After getting out of jail, Huck wants nothing more than to start a family and live a life "on the straight path".
61	* IWarnedYou: After the Band pull off their robbery [[spoiler: but the pawnshop's contents turn out not to be what was anticipated]], Barnes tells Harper and Ben, "I told you so."
62	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Tom Sawyer.
63	* {{Leitmotif}}: A few, such as the thundering of drums for Injun Joe and the sound of a NostalgicMusicBox whenever Tom and Huck get particularly passionate about finding Murrell's Treasure.
64	* LetMeTellYouAStory: Injun Joe tells Harper a story about his horrific childhood and his first murders while trying to get Tom and Huck's location out of him, offering Harper a LastChanceToQuit if he gives his friends up.
65	* LovableRogue: Tom Sawyer, of course.
66	* LoveInterest: Becky for Tom.
67	* ManChild: Pretty much the entire Band, but especially Tom and Harper.
68	* MoodWhiplash: For a lot of the second act, the film becomes notably DarkerAndEdgier (especially compared to the original source material), especially in the standoff at the Hannibal Hotel.
69	* NowWhat
70	* OnlySaneMan: Tommy Barnes quits the Band almost immediately after it is formed after Tom reads out its oath. The Band still continues to use Barnes' basement as their base of operations, despite his objections to their activities.
71	* PirateBooty: Murrell's Treasure, though John Andrews Murrell was technically just a bandit...
72	* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Injun Joe is a culturally appropriative white man who "identifies with the culture and the aesthetic" of Native Americans; in his mind, though, objections to this are a case of EverythingIsRacist.
73	* PuppyLove: Tom and Becky.
74	* PuttingTheBandBackTogether: Lampshaded nearly verbatim by Ben towards the end of the film [[spoiler: when Tom rounds up the entire Band one last time to rescue Jorge]].
75	* RaceLift: Injun Joe, a white/Native American "half-breed" in ''Tom Sawyer'', is now a white man played by Creator/StephenLang -- allowing the film to make a point and derive humor from frequent Hollywood whitewashing -- and Jim, an African-American slave in ''Huckleberry Finn'', is now a Mexican immigrant [[AdaptationNameChange renamed]] Jorge Jiminez.
76	* RealPlaceBackground / SceneryPorn: A ''lot''. It's a beautifully shot film.
77	* RedOniBlueOni: Huck is the blue to Tom's red.
78	* RefugeInAudacity: Tom concocts an elaborate fib about Huck being "FBI Special Agent George Jackson" and the hunt for Murrell's Treasure really be an operation to "bust the cartels".
79	* RunningGag: A few.
80	** When Huck says that Injun Joe is in fact a white man and not a Native American, Harper asks why he calls himself this, to which Tom replies, "I guess he just identifies with the culture and the aesthetic." Harper asks, "But isn't that kinda racist?", to which Ben poses the question, "How is it racist to want to be ''another'' race?" Later, when Harper is ambushed by Injun Joe in his car, he asks Joe the same questions to his face, to which Joe gives the exact same responses near-verbatim.
81	** The back door of Tom's minivan opening by itself, which happens [[RuleOfThree three times throughout the film.]]
82	** Ben's insistence to be called the [[AtrociousAlias "cool" name]] of "Greg Knife" during the holdup.
83	* TheSavageIndian: Subverted; Injun Joe mostly fits this trope, right down to scalping his victims (frequently referenced throughout the film), but is in fact a culturally appropriative white man -- as "he just identifies with the culture and the aesthetic". This may in fact be to illustrate his lack of understanding of actual Native American culture.
84	* ShipperOnDeck: If his wink to Tom when Tom hands him a letter to give to Becky as [[spoiler: Tom goes to sacrifice himself for the Band at the end of the film]] is any indication, Ben Rogers is one.
85	%%* TheSlacker: Tom.
86	%%* SmallNameBigEgo: Tom Sawyer.
87	%%* StupidCrooks: The Band of Robbers, of course.
88	* SuccessfulSiblingSyndrome: Tom is [[StuckInTheirShadow stuck in the shadow]] of his more successful detective half-brother Sid, who is so successful that he is being given the keys to the city by the mayor.
89	* TagalongKid: Though he is the same age as the rest of the Band, Joe Harper is pretty much this.
90	* TerribleTrio: Injun Joe, Packard, and (begrudgingly) [[spoiler: Muff.]]
91	* TruerToTheText: Despite the large amount of changes, ''Band of Robbers'' may well capture the spirit of Twain's novels the best out of most of their adaptations, and include EasterEggs and elements that are commonly left out of many.
92	* WealthyEverAfter: [[spoiler: The fate of Harper, Ben, and Barnes after the Band successfully finds Murrell's Treasure.]]
93	* WhatTheHellHero: Huck gets in one of these towards Tom towards the end of the film that borders on a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech.
94	* WorthlessTreasureTwist: Subverted/zig-zagged: [[spoiler: when the Band steals what they believe is Murrell's Treasure, it turns out to merely be just over $200 in bills and a rusty pewter coin; however, the coin turns out to be a clue to finding the ''real'' Murrell's Treasure, which is indeed real and valuable.]]
95	%%* WrongGenreSavvy: Tom Sawyer.
96	* ZanyScheme: Tom is established as practically devoting his life to these; also, real crimes like the heist planned by the Band are portrayed (and seen) as these...until Injun Joe comes into things.

Context Film / BandOfRobbers