The filmmakers have described "Band of Robbers" as fan fiction, and that feels about right: They don't quite hit the mark, but it's fun to watch them trying.

I think it's a bad idea that's badly done in at least two ways, maybe three, but however many there are they're all fatal.

In addition to Twain, the directors clearly worship the Coens, specifically "Raising Arizona." And that's OK.

This clever updating of Mark Twain finds Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer involved in a comic caper.

Band of Robbers doesn't quite spin its imaginative conceit into comic gold, but it offers some minor pleasures along the way.