Movie heroes often find themselves fighting brilliant criminal masterminds, but let's face it -- a lot of crooks are just plain idiotic. Take, for instance, the characters in '30 Minutes or Less,' opening Aug. 12. Here, two would-be thugs (Danny McBride and Nick Swardson) kidnap a slacker pizza-delivery boy (Jesse Eisenberg) and force him to rob a bank by strapping him into a vest wired to explode; he, in turn, enlists his schoolteacher frenemy (Aziz Ansari) as a partner-in-crime. Laughs ensue. We like to watch dumb criminals, maybe because we think that, if we were kidnappers and thieves in a similar situation, we'd do a much better job. The movies have been obliging us since the silent era. Dumb criminals have been a staple of comedy in every era and in many countries. Some filmmakers (notably, the Coen brothers) seem to have made dumb criminals their specialty.
Coming up with a list of the 10 dumbest criminals and criminal gangs on film wasn't easy; no doubt many of your favorites have been left out. Check out the list below, let us know if you think the kooky crooks of '30 Minutes or Less' belong on the list, and tell us which of your favorite unmentioned big-screen bandits got robbed:
(Click the left image to start the slide show.)
Follow Gary Susman on Twitter: @garysusman.
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