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The first time I heard about Band of Outsiders was when the lovely J9 had to show me her favorite scene, which is the famous dancing sequence in the movie. Two young guys and a girl are hanging out a restaurant, start up the jukebox, and do a choreographed sort of line dance together. As they dance, the music cuts out, and the narrator tells us what each of the characters is thinking. That happens a lot in this movie, as director Jean-Luc Godard breaks the audience barrier many times throughout. So, what would otherwise be a somewhat straightforward crime/heist movie turns out to be a surprising breath of fresh air.

The three main characters form a little love triangle, between Odile, Arthur, and Franz. They meet in an English class, and when Arthur and Franz find out that Odile lives in a house that has a secret stash of money, they decide to break in and take the money. Odile protests at times, or perhaps doth protest too much. Her fickle nature is also seen in her reactions to the boys.

This is a fun movie that sometimes turns serious. It seems to follow the basic plot lines of a heist movie, but the content is changed appropriately for the age of the people committing the crime. While the crime is being plotted, the three go about town together having fun. Sometimes their plans seem to be forgotten, especially during the dancing scene and their very fun nine-minute tour of the Louvre.

The character of Odile is what fascinated me more than anything. I liked trying to decipher what she was thinking, even when the narrator was telling me what she was thinking. She is played by Anna Karina, who was Godard's wife at the time. I felt like I could sense his own fascination in the way that Odile was presented.

Surprisingly enough, the movie takes a more tension-filled turn towards the end, and it still works. I loved the way the crime scene played out. I guess what I appreciated about the movie was how briskly it passed by while managing to give me enough character to feel invested in it. I know that description may sound all too much like a comedy heist movie, but this is far from one of those. I know a lot of Godard fans seem to prefer his other movies to this one; it's possible that there are better movies than this one, but I would still venture to say that this will be a favorite for me, even though I still need to see more of his work.