Posted on 04/14/2019 6:04:14 AM PDT by Rummyfan
After reading a couple of favorable reviews of The Highwaymen at blogs that I am usually given to trust, I took a flyer on watching the movie – streaming video, of course, on my home computer. I can count the number of movies that I have made a deliberate effort to see in a theater over the last couple of years on the fingers of one hand and … well, wow. Just wow. Kevin Costner isn’t any Kenneth Branagh, or even a John Wayne – but he can act, especially given an intelligent and nuanced script, spare and understated direction, and production values not dependent on flashy special effects. Woody Harrelson may personally be nuttier than squirrel poop – but he also can act. Like Jimmy Stewart did before them – they are better and more interesting playing older, more grizzled characters then they were as smooth-faced young studs. So – The Highwaymen is a retelling of the hunt for and final ambush of gangsters Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, glamorized beyond practically all recognition in the 1968 movie.
There were a good few roving criminal gangs in the 1920ies and 30ies, enabled by the ubiquity of motor cars, resentments of banks in a time of Depression and hardship, and a national media inclined – as they have been practically forever – to make popular folk heroes out of ordinary criminals. The Highwaymen, instead of glorifying a pair of vicious and possibly psychotic losers (who hardly appear at all, save at a distance), follows the two former Texas Rangers, Frank Hamer and Maney Gault on a long and dusty road trip – down empty country roads, through migrant camps and small towns in the Depression-era middle America: a buddy-cop and road-trip movie. Touchingly, the two of them are not quite sure they are up to it. In real life, Hamer and Gault were in their fifties at the time they were tagged to hunt the Barrow gang, survivors of hard and violent times; the old ‘Wild West’ lingered in Texas well into the 20th century. There is some small humor made from the fact that two-way police radios and phone-tapping were a new concept in law enforcement for a pair of guys who first made their bones in the horseback-and-Winchester-rifle days.
What I appreciated most, though – was how flawlessly the scenery where The Highwaymen was filmed backed up the story – yes, that was genuinely Texas; piney woods and dusty plains, with the sky arching overhead. The lonely little gas stations, the streets of Dallas where the Barrows and the Parkers lived, grimy interiors of roadhouses and coffee shops, the migrant camps and tourist cabins – all perfect, right down to the signage and light fixtures. (This was nothing like that horrible Texas Rising mini-series – filmed entirely in Durango, Mexico, in which the concept of scenic authenticity was flung down and danced upon.) The final ambush of Barrow and Parker was actually filmed at the spot where it happened, which must have creeped out the film crew and actors considerably.
All and all – a good two hours spent with interesting people: Hamer had a long and eventful history in law enforcement, which rightfully should be good for another half a dozen movies. In 1939, for instance, he and 49 other retired Texas Rangers offered their services to King George VI, to protect England against the Nazis. (A local Llano author, Elisabeth G. Wolf worked this into a supernatural alt-history fantasy.) Hamer’s wife, Gladys Johnson Sims (seen briefly in the opening scenes of The Highwaymen) should have her own movie, at that: she was at the center of the last great Texas family feud in which the principals personally took up weapons. This feud was kicked into high gear when she shot her ex-husband as he tried to force the issue of custodial visitation with their young daughters. In the town square of Snyder, Texas. In front of witnesses.
Finally, the high quality of The Highwaymen, in acting and directing talent and production values, is additional proof that cinematic creativity has moved on to new venues. Generators with a ready audience – Amazon, Netflix and the like – are creating original, interesting content. Far more interesting content than what’s nommed for the Academy Awards this year; discuss as you wish.
Yes I quite enjoyed it too.
Loved it. Reminded me of movies back in the 70’s.
Clyde Barrow hit 20 times and Bonnie Parker 26 times.
It is an excellent movie. The gun store scene with Costner is incredible.
Harrelson nails his role. Just nails it.
It’s streaming on Netflix. I recommend it.
L
“Clyde Barrow hit 20 times and Bonnie Parker 26 times.”
20,000 people attended Bonnie’s funeral. 15,000 for Barrow. The scene near the end of the movie shows people snatching souvenirs from their bodies as their car is being towed into town.
Really, really good movie.
L
Agree. The scenery and sets were amazing and really put the viewer right there.
I loved it too. Reminded me of space cowboys, though series.
T
I agree. Excellent.
Best streaming movie that I have seen in probably a year.
Will watch it again to get details. Some gun nut needs to identify all the weapons used by scene. I think I saw my Dads Browning 12 ga. And the BAR he carried in France.
thoroughly enjoyed the movie. really interesting to see the way the public turned bonnie and clyde into celebrities. i especially like the face that they didn’t give any glamorous tribute to the two killers - minimal use of their faces and showing the absolute brutality of the murders they committed.
“I think I saw my Dads Browning 12 ga. And the BAR he carried in France.”
Yep. He asked for the BAR and a Colt Monitor which is quite similar. Watching the proprietor carry all of it to the car along with cases of ammunition was priceless.
Ah, the good old days when anyone with enough money could walk into a gun store and walk out with a BAR.
L
bump
Yeah, times have changed.
We watched it twice. I want to watch it at least one more time!
I watched it the other night. Very good movie. It really caught the austerity of the depression.
Sounds good!
I personally like Kevin Costner’s acting.
I agree. It was an exceptional movie and it treated those psychotic killers and their mindless, shrieking groupies as they needed to be portrayed!
It reminded me so much of the mindless snowflakes, showering their adoration on the very socialist murderers who will leave them dead or penniless.
I've seen the photos of the aftermath of the ambush in Bienville, including the weapons the Barrow gang had and those the lawmen used. And I swear they were BARs (among a lot of other tasty items).
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