Marauders (2016) is a crime thriller starring Bruce Willis as the CEO of a banking empire and Christopher Meloni, Adrian Grenier, and Dave Bautista as FBI agents.
Here’s the premise: When a bank is hit by a brutal heist, all evidence points to the owner and his high-powered clients. But as a group of FBI agents dig deeper into the case – and the deadly heists continue – it becomes clear that a larger conspiracy is at play.
From the opening scenes, Marauders perpetuates Myth #2 – The FBI Doesn’t Play Well With Others from FBI Myths and Misconceptions.
Here are a few lines of dialogue between Agent Jonathan “Monty” Montgomery and Detective Mims and his captain after a fatal bank robbery.
Monty: So why didn’t you wait for my okay to raid that apartment?
Mims: I’m homicide. It was a homicide.
Monty: Don’t pull that B.S. on me. I allow Cincinnati PD to fully partake in my investigations. But at the end of the day, don’t make a mistake. That money says Federal Reserve.
Mims: Well, you didn’t do a very good job of reserving it.
Captain O’Connell: Calm down, Mims.
Monty: Captain O’Connell, Shut the f**k up. (Turns to Mims.) Do you know how I’m able to tell him that, Mims? Because my official title is Special Agent in Charge. Which gives me authority over a special agent, who’s over your captain, who’s over you. You don’t take evidence from a crime scene until I get there. You don’t do a f**king raid unless I tell you.
Whoa! Not another movie where the FBI shows up, is rude and condescending, and tries to take over the investigation? During this scene, I reached for the remote but made myself continue to watch.
The FBI has no hierarchical authority over local and state agencies. State and local law enforcement agencies are not subordinate to the FBI. If a crime occurs and the FBI shares jurisdiction with another agency or the FBI’s assistance is requested, the FBI will work closely with local and state police in an informal partnership or, for certain cases, a task force is formed combining federal, state, and local resources and manpower to solve a crime or prevent one. I’m assuming that’s what Marauders was attempting to portray, but not at all accurately. The filmmakers were obviously unaware that working well with our local law enforcement partners is a vital component of the FBI’s success in the field.
The concept of bank robbers manipulating the cooperation of bank managers by threatening to harm their family members, however, is legitimate.
Listen to the following episodes to learn about one of the most professional bank robbery operations in U.S. history. The robbers would identify the bank managers and where they lived, hold them and their families hostage the night before, and forcibly escort them to the bank where the bank robbers would empty the vault:
Episode 229: Walter Lamar and Stephen Chenoweth – Sleepover Bank Robbers, Part 1
Episode 230: Walter Lamar and Stephen Chenoweth – Sleepover Bank Robbers, Part 2
