review(c)1998 eric lurio
The Newton Boys
Directed by Richard Linklater
Okay, it's a minor gripe and it wouldn't hurt the potential enjoyment of the film by anyone. But it would have been nice if the character of Dock Newton was played by Woody Harrelson.
Now I'm not knocking Vincent D'Onofrio by any means. He's wonderful here, one of his best performances since that great one he gave in in `The Whole Wide World.' In fact everybody's great in this flick.
I just think that Harrleson looks like Matthew McConaughey is all.
Now that that teensy rant is over, we come to what's the best movie to open since the beginning of the year.
McConaughey plays Willis Newton, who when the movie opens is just out of prison for a crime he didn't commit. He arrives home to the rural Texas of 1919, which for all intents and purpouses is still the old west.
His possibly widowed mom(Gail Cronauer) owns a small ranch where her younger sons Jess(Ethan Hawke) and Joe(Skeet Ulrich) break horses and live happy-go- lucky lives.
Which is nice and all, but Willis is thinking bigger than that. He's getting together with Brentwood Glasscock(Dwight Yoakam) and a guy named Slim(Charles Gunning) go start a career as a bank robber.
Slim's plan backfires, and with him out of the picture for a while, Willis and Brentwood decide to bring Jess and Joe into the enterprise.
...And thus begins a hybrid western/gangster film that would be welcome in either genre.
Rounding out the mob is Brentwood's wife Avis(Chloe Webb) and later the aforementioned brother Dock.
There's also a romance between Willis and Louise(Julianna Margulies), who works at a magazine stand in a hotel our heroes are staying at.
The characterizations are all wonderful. The acting is fine, the story compelling, and there is action from beginning to end.
Had this come out three months ago, it would be up for an Oscar for something. It's well worth the bucks.
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