The Highwaymen

I sat down and watched:

The Highwaymen (2019).

Mostly based on facts, this movie shows one part of the hunt for the infamous outlaws Bonnie and Clyde.

With regular law enforcement unable to stop the trigger happy bandits, the governor of Texas, Ma Ferguson (Kathy Bates) empowers retired Texas Ranger Frank Hamer (Kevin Costner) to go on the hunt. He brings along his fellow retiree from the rangers, Maney Gault (Woody Harrelson). Together they head out to bring down the bloody couple.

The Highwaymen is a beautiful movie, lets get that straight. The cinematography and the shot composition is really nice. The acting is good, Costner and Harrelson are veterans who know what they are doing, no problem. The props department also did a great job, the movie looks like 1934, a great job in fact. They kept it as simple as possible and it works.

I love the fact that this movie isn't really about Bonnie and Clyde as such. Yes, they are the focus, but you only really see glimpses of them. Shots focus on feet, blurry outlines and long shots. The way they are talked about, from furious lawmen to adoring fans in the general population makes them seem bigger and more sinister than they were in reality. This is such a smart move and really gives the veteran rangers a tough enemy to hunt. It also removes all the romance from the couple and focuses on their grisly crimes. If you want that side, watch Bonnie and Clyde (1967) with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.

Then there is the other side of the movie. The fact that both main actors are getting pretty old. This is natural and in fact, Costner was offered the role 10 years earlier but felt he was too young then. I can get behind that. But I also feel that the movie spends way too much time hammering home how old Hamer and Gault were. Too old to run down a kid, too old to climb a fence, too old for this and too tired for that. After a while it gets a bit boring, to be quite honest. Especially since after a point in the movie, the fact that they are basically too old and rusty is just ignored.

Some of the events were changed for some reason. Gault is shown to be unemployed and a bit down and out, which he wasn't when he went on the hunt. Other things are exactly as happened, including the fact that the scene where Bonnie and Clyde are gunned down, is shot on the same road where it happened for real. A scene where Hamer walks into a gun store and buys an arsenal that includes two Tommy guns and an automatic BAR is questioned, but you could actually do that in the 30's.

So, do I recommend this movie? Sure. The Highwaymen is good, but it is too long. At a little over two hours, I'd say it's about 30 minutes too long. Had it been tighter, I think it would have hit harder. As it is, it wanders about a bit too much and wastes time on things it doesn't have to. Overall I had a good time and the movie is absolutely worth watching at least once.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great week!