Movie Review - "The Highwaymen"

In the ever-changing paradigm of how movies are delivered to the movie going public these days, at least in  the world that includes Netflix, "The Highwaymen" was released to selected theaters last March (I don't believe it ever reached a movie theater in Pittsburgh), then withdrawn two weeks later and made available only to subscribers of Netflix.  I can recall hearing some positive reviews of the movie at the time, so last night, this new Netflix subscriber decided to watch it.

The movie is billed, as you can see in the picture above, as "the untold true story" of "the legends who took down Bonnie & Clyde."  The two legends in question are a couple of aging put-out-to-pasture Texas Rangers named Frank Hamer and Maney Gualt, played by Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson, who are called upon by Texas Governor Miriam "Ma" Henderson, the governor who disbanded the Rangers and replaced it with more modern police and investigators who used more up-to-date methods in tracking down criminals and preserving the peace.  Well, these modern guys were having no luck back in 1934 halting the murderous reign off terror being brought about by the infamous Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, so Henderson (Kathy Bates)  reluctantly agrees to authorize Hamer and Gualt as "highwaymen" to capture and, hopefully, kill Bonnie and Clyde, and makes it clear that she is not all that concerned with pesky little details like due process of law.  So old-timers Costner and Harrelson are off and running using methods that will make Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry Callahan look like some bleeding-heart sissy pinko.  The New York Times review of the movie called is "Grumpy Old Men meet Bonnie & Clyde."

This is a movie that sounded like it could be a lot of fun, but I found it slow moving and at times almost ponderous.  It was kind of fun watching Costner and Harrelson playing the old guys who, if they are now unable trying to chase down a teen-aged kid on foot anymore, they can still kick the asses of bad guys when the need arises.  

Bonnie and Clyde (Emily Brobst and Edward Bossert) are more like MacGuffins in this one rather than full blown characters and are seen full face on in only the climactic scene of the movie.  Unlike 1967's classic "Bonnie and Clyde" with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, this movie is told strictly from the lawmen's point of view.  In both movies, the criminals are seen as Robin Hood-type heroes by the downtrodden folks of Depression Era America ("Did Robin Hood ever murder someone in cold blood for four dollars and a tank of gas?"), and - spoiler alert! - Bonnie and Clyde come to a similar end in this one as they did back in 1967.

As another review I read stated, the story of "The Highwaymen" may tell a story closer to the truth than did "Bonnie and Clyde", but that doesn't mean that it's a better movie.  The Grandstander agrees and gives this one only Two Stars.

A couple of historical footnotes: 

• Not sure if this is true or not, but it is said that at one point, Hollywood kicked around the idea of telling the story of Hamer and Gualt with Paul Newman and Robert Redford playing the parts.
• The "Bonnie and Clyde" 1967 version is not available on Netflix.  If you want to know the story of the demise of the Barrow Gang, Netflix will only give you their version.
• Not long after the events portrayed in this movie, the Texas Rangers were reconstituted and still exist today.
• In the interest of historical accuracy, here is a picture of the real Bonnie and Clyde.  Beatty and Dunaway, they ain't!

Movie Review - "Hidden Figures"

This afternoon we saw what was without doubt the best movie among all of the end of year releases that we have seen up to this point, director Theodore Melfi's "Hidden Figures".  This movie tells the true story of the role that three African-American women played in the American space program back in 1961, the time when the USA was struggling to catch up with the USSR in succeeding in manned flights into outer space.  The women are played by (as pictured above) Janelle Monae, Taraji P. Henson, and Octavia Spencer.  All are terrific in their roles, but first among equals is Henson as the mathematical genius whose work and contributions were critical to NASA.  Also, featured in key roles are Kirsten Dunst, Jim Parsons, and Kevin Costner.  No longer the dashing leading man, Costner has now become a character actor, and he is terrific in "Hidden Figures".

We came away from this movie with two thoughts.  One, how is it that this story was never told and is so unknown, and, two, how shameful it was that we once lived in a country that required separate restrooms, segregated buses, separate water fountains, and even separate coffee pots in offices.  Two great scenes: When chief engineer Costner, clueless up to this point, realizes that he is losing one of his best workers for large portions of the day because she has to leave the building in order to use the "colored ladies" bathroom located in another building, and a scene in a now integrated rest room between Spencer and Dunst.

I can't recommend this one highly enough.  An unequivocal Four Stars from The Grandstander for "Hidden Figures".

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On the subject of movies, I recently re-watched this one again:

After watching the Blue-ray two days ago, I went back into The Grandstander archives and saw that when I wrote about seeing it in August, I rated it at Two and One-half Stars, to which I said to myself "What was I thinking???"

"Hell or High Water" is easily one for he best movies of 2016, and deserves a rating of at least three and one-half stars.  Jeff Bridges is utterly fantastic in his role as the crusty old soon-to-retire Texas Ranger, and the final scene of the movie between him and Chris Pine is fabulous.

"Hell or High Water" has been available on DVD for some time now, and I am sure that it can be streamed easily enough on the various services out there.  See this one as soon as you can.