# Band of Robbers
**Band of Robbers** is a 2015 American crime comedy film written and directed by brothers Aaron and Adam Nee that reimagines [Mark Twain](https://www.edgepedia.org/mark-twain)'s Tom Sawyer and [Huckleberry Finn](https://www.edgepedia.org/huckleberry-finn) as grown men still chasing the childhood treasure that eluded them. Huck Finn ([Kyle Gallner](https://www.edgepedia.org/kyle-gallner)) is released from prison hoping to go straight, while his lifelong friend Tom Sawyer (Adam Nee) works as a corrupt small-town cop and pulls him into one last treasure hunt with their misfit friends.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/70447-BAND-OF-ROBBERS) • [2](https://www.laemmle.com/film/band-robbers)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Directors and writers | Aaron Nee and Adam Nee, who also co-edited the film; based on Twain's *The Adventures of Tom Sawyer* and *Adventures of Huckleberry Finn*[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/70447-BAND-OF-ROBBERS) |
| Principal cast | Kyle Gallner (Huck Finn), Adam Nee (Tom Sawyer), Melissa Benoist (Becky Thatcher), Matthew Gray Gubler (Joe Harper), Hannibal Buress (Ben Rogers), Stephen Lang (Injun Joe), Eric Christian Olsen (Sid Sawyer)[3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/band-of-robbers/) |
| Release | Premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival on 13 June 2015; released in the United States on 15 January 2016 by Gravitas Ventures[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/70447-BAND-OF-ROBBERS) |
| Runtime and genre | 95 minutes; adventure comedy with crime as sub-genre[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/70447-BAND-OF-ROBBERS) |
| Fidelity to Twain | About a quarter of the dialogue is verbatim from the books, and all characters and plot points are drawn from the stories[4](https://www.wearemoviegeeks.com/2015/11/sliff-2015-interview-aaron-adam-nee-directors-band-robbers/) |
| Critical reception | 81% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (26 reviews) with a 60% audience score; Metascore 57; IMDb rating 6.0/10[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/band_of_robbers_2016) • [3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/band-of-robbers/) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and adaptation
The film transposes Twain's nineteenth-century Missouri boys into the present day. Huck, just out of prison after taking the fall for the pair's misadventures, wants a family and a normal life; Tom, the same schemer at thirty he was at thirteen, has become a policeman and recruits their friends Joe Harper and Ben Rogers into a "Band of Robbers" to steal a fabled treasure, planning to steal from the rich and give to the poor.[2](https://www.laemmle.com/film/band-robbers) • [6](https://today.uic.edu/robbers-reimagines-twain-tales/) The plan centers on a pawn shop robbery, where Murrel the Bandit's treasure is rumored to be stored, and unravels into a dangerous journey.[4](https://www.wearemoviegeeks.com/2015/11/sliff-2015-interview-aaron-adam-nee-directors-band-robbers/) • [7](https://www.uscannenbergmedia.com/2016/01/17/film-review-band-of-robbers/)
The title phrase comes from *[The Adventures of Tom Sawyer](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-adventures-of-tom-sawyer)*, in the scene where Tom proposes forming "Tom Sawyer's gang."[8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/band-of-robbers-2016) The filmmakers inflated Tom's poorly executed "raids" from *Huckleberry Finn* into the pawn shop plot, and adapted the character Jim as Jorge Jiminez (Daniel Edward Mora), whom Huck ropes into the adventure rather than drifting downriver with.[4](https://www.wearemoviegeeks.com/2015/11/sliff-2015-interview-aaron-adam-nee-directors-band-robbers/) The film opens with the "Notice" from *Adventures of Huckleberry Finn*, warning that persons attempting to find a motive, moral, or plot in the narrative will be prosecuted, banished, or shot.[8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/band-of-robbers-2016)
**Becky Thatcher** appears as Tom's rookie police partner, played by [Melissa Benoist](https://www.edgepedia.org/melissa-benoist) shortly before she took the title role in *Supergirl*. The Nee brothers treated the police station as the film's equivalent of the schoolroom where Tom meets the new girl in the book, and kept her crush on Tom as a plot device that gets Becky into trouble, while insisting the film's central love story is the friendship between [Tom and Huck](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-and-huck).[9](https://www.finaldraft.com/blog/brothers-adam-aaron-nee-adapting-mark-twain-comedy-band-robbers) A scholarly study of Becky Thatcher adaptations describes the film as an outlier among recent Twain adaptations, in which Becky takes a traditionally male role as an honest local cop.[10](https://academic.oup.com/adaptation/article/17/3/433/7274963?guestAccessKey=2f5ce895-46d4-44c4-9f70-83fd421ef22a)
## Origin and production
The idea began with a failed audition. Soon after moving to New York, Adam Nee, then 21, tried out for a faithful *Huckleberry Finn* film that required a 13-year-old Huck and was, in his words, laughed out of the audition; the experience planted the question of what Huck and Tom would be like as young adults saying and doing the same things as in the books.[4](https://www.wearemoviegeeks.com/2015/11/sliff-2015-interview-aaron-adam-nee-directors-band-robbers/) The brothers developed the idea for about ten years, briefly considering a television series before committing to a feature, and wrote the screenplay in Final Draft, talking out the story, outlining it, then trading pages back and forth.[9](https://www.finaldraft.com/blog/brothers-adam-aaron-nee-adapting-mark-twain-comedy-band-robbers)
[Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) concluded by September 2014.[11](https://www.screendaily.com/production/band-of-robbers-wraps-shoot/5077723.article) The first day of shooting took place in the old Herald Examiner building in downtown Los Angeles, which served as both the police station and Muff Potter's apartment.[12](https://theplaylist.net/filmmaker-adam-nee-talks-mark-twain-caper-riff-band-of-robbers-and-working-with-the-man-himself-20151130/) The production was small for its ambitions, with roughly 30 locations; a hotel shootout sequence was shot in a single day in an old train station in Barstow, where half the crew fell ill with food poisoning, and a final pickup day nearly ended when the stunt police car's throttle stuck and it crashed into a guard rail during rehearsal.[13](https://whatsuphollywood.com/features/2546/) • [14](https://moveablefest.com/aaron-adam-nee-band-of-robbers/)
Noah Rosenthal served as director of photography, Joel P. West composed the score, and the producers were Arun Kumar, Matt Ratner, Rick Rosenthal, and John Will.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/70447-BAND-OF-ROBBERS) Critics repeatedly compared the film's saturated, symmetrical visual style to [Wes Anderson](https://www.edgepedia.org/wes-anderson), particularly *Bottle Rocket*.[6](https://today.uic.edu/robbers-reimagines-twain-tales/) • [8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/band-of-robbers-2016)
## Reception
The film premiered at the 2015 Los Angeles Film Festival to a sold-out theater and was nominated for the festival's Zeitgeist Award.[6](https://today.uic.edu/robbers-reimagines-twain-tales/) • [2](https://www.laemmle.com/film/band-robbers) It opened in limited theatrical release and on demand on 15 January 2016.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/70447-BAND-OF-ROBBERS)
Critical response was mixed to favorable. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an 81% Tomatometer from 26 reviews, with an audience score of 60%.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/band_of_robbers_2016) Its Metascore of 57, based on 12 critic reviews, falls in the "mixed or average" range, spanning an 83 from [The Playlist](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-playlist), a 70 from [The Hollywood Reporter](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-hollywood-reporter), a 60 from The New York Times, and a 25 from RogerEbert.com.[3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/band-of-robbers/) Positive reviews praised the acting and the cleverness of the updating; Flavorwire called it "sharp, funny, big-hearted, and absolutely true to the spirit of the author in question," while Variety's Joe Leydon called it a clever updating of Twain.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/band_of_robbers_2016) Negative reviews found the characters underdeveloped and the plot convoluted; the Los Angeles Times wrote that the film works best on the conflict between world-weary Huck and dreamer Tom but sacrifices the characters' motivations, and RogerEbert.com's Glenn Kenny judged that the film "just plain doesn't work."[15](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-capsule-band-review-20160115-story.html) • [8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/band-of-robbers-2016)
The film did not reach mainstream audiences, but the A.V. Club later described it as the Nee brothers' "calling-card film" that opened the doors leading to their 2022 studio feature *The Lost City*.[16](https://www.avclub.com/lost-city-directors-aaron-adam-nee-sandra-bullock-brad-1848700285)
## References
1. [Band of Robbers, AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/70447-BAND-OF-ROBBERS)
2. [Band of Robbers, Laemmle Theatres](https://www.laemmle.com/film/band-robbers)
3. [Band of Robbers, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/band-of-robbers/)
4. [SLIFF 2015 Interview: Aaron and Adam Nee, We Are Movie Geeks](https://www.wearemoviegeeks.com/2015/11/sliff-2015-interview-aaron-adam-nee-directors-band-robbers/)
5. [Band of Robbers, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/band_of_robbers_2016)
6. ['Robbers' reimagines Twain tales, UIC Today](https://today.uic.edu/robbers-reimagines-twain-tales/)
7. [Film Review: 'Band of Robbers', Annenberg Media](https://www.uscannenbergmedia.com/2016/01/17/film-review-band-of-robbers/)
8. [Band of Robbers movie review, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/band-of-robbers-2016)
9. [Brothers Adam and Aaron Nee on adapting Mark Twain, Final Draft](https://www.finaldraft.com/blog/brothers-adam-aaron-nee-adapting-mark-twain-comedy-band-robbers)
10. [Becky Thatcher's Literary Half-life, Adaptation (Oxford Academic)](https://academic.oup.com/adaptation/article/17/3/433/7274963?guestAccessKey=2f5ce895-46d4-44c4-9f70-83fd421ef22a)
11. [Band Of Robbers wraps shoot, Screen Daily](https://www.screendaily.com/production/band-of-robbers-wraps-shoot/5077723.article)
12. [Filmmaker Adam Nee Talks Mark Twain Caper Riff 'Band of Robbers', The Playlist](https://theplaylist.net/filmmaker-adam-nee-talks-mark-twain-caper-riff-band-of-robbers-and-working-with-the-man-himself-20151130/)
13. [Band of Robbers star and filmmaker Adam Nee interview, What's Up Hollywood](https://whatsuphollywood.com/features/2546/)
14. [Interview: Aaron & Adam Nee on Getting Away with 'Band of Robbers', The Moveable Fest](https://moveablefest.com/aaron-adam-nee-band-of-robbers/)
15. [Review: 'Band of Robbers' squanders its time with Tom and Huck, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-capsule-band-review-20160115-story.html)
16. [How directors Aaron and Adam Nee leveled up for The Lost City, The A.V. Club](https://www.avclub.com/lost-city-directors-aaron-adam-nee-sandra-bullock-brad-1848700285)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 2015–2019 films › Heist and crime comedy films*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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