When Mark Twain wrote The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn back in 1884, he prefaced the novel with a wry warning: “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.” This was Twain’s jab at literary types and their tendency to agonize over a text’s every last syllable in the pursuit of meaning, though he knew, of course, the meaning was there, because he damn well wrote meaning into his words. He wanted his story to be enjoyed and not dissected. So he led off with droll caveats to put a smile on readers’ faces and persuade them not to take the book, or him, too seriously.
Brothers Aaron and Adam Nee use Twain’s preamble to similar effect in the opening title card of Band of Robbers, their second directorial effort. They want their film to stand on its own merit, though that’s kind of a tough goal to achieve given the whole thing is basically a modernized retelling of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; every smarty pants who paid attention in high school English will inevitably pore over Band of Robbers and launch misguided comparisons between the Nees’ movie and Twain’s immortal tome. But that’s their damage. Band of Robbers is a delight, as an ode to Twain and as a story of two men doomed to live lives of perpetual adolescent fantasizing. Ever wonder what Tom Sawyer might look like in the mold of a 20-something millennial slacker? Then this film is for you.
Band of Robbers begins as a grown-up Huck (a never better Kyle Gallner) is released from prison and into the custody of Tom (Adam Nee himself), who somehow has managed to find the focus and discipline necessary to become a cop. Tom’s ambitions stopped right up to him getting the badge, though, because he’s a cop in title only; adulthood hasn’t robbed him of his childlike worldview, or his need to scheme up shenanigans. He’s cooked up a good one, in fact, to celebrate Huck’s return, a complicated caper that involves thieving from thieves: It’s the hunt for Murrel’s treasure, an operation that has as many goofy code names as it does twists and turns, and which necessarily goes off the rails by running the boys afoul of Injun Joe (a flat-out terrifying Stephen Lang).