Newtons movin' kinda slow at historical junction
The Newton Boys A Film Review By Michael Redman Copyright 1998 By Michael Redman
**1/2 (out of ****)
There are twilight times in history: years where something that was gives way to what will be. It's rare that individuals living during such a shift perceive the transformation. Most are too preoccupied with putting food on the table and a roof over their heads to see the big picture. It takes living on the fringes of society to visualize the forest.
We seem to be living in one of those times of change now. Fifteen years from now may be radically different from what we've experienced previously. In the early years of this century the western United States was undergoing such an alteration and it took a gang of bank robbers to see it coming.
The Newton brothers began their life of crime in 1919. They successfully robbed over 80 banks without getting caught and pulled off the largest train robbery ever at the end of their career in 1924. And they did it all with a minimum of violence -- no deaths and few injuries.
Based on the exploits of the historical family (during the credits there are interviews with the boys themselves including an appearance with Johnny Carson), the film is an interesting study of the developing west. After a failed daylight holdup that ends with crooks on horseback being chased by the law in a motorized vehicle, Texan Willis (Matthew McConaughey) Newton realizes that the days of Jesse James style plundering are over.
Convincing his brothers Joe (Skeet Ulrich), Jesse (Ethan Hawke), Dock (Vincent D'Onofrio) and explosives expert Brentwood Glasscock (singer Dwight Yoakam) that the dirt-poor life of sharecroppers is not for them, Willis sets about modernizing bank robbery. He obtains a list of banks that still have the older square door safes and, in a stroke of genius, realizes that the best time to rob them is in the middle of the night when no one is around.
After years of successful crimes, the boys get greedy and go for a mail train out of Chicago loaded with down with cash. Although they get away with $3 million, this is their fatal mistake. The Feds and Chicago cops are after them and they're not about to give up.
The movie is too reminiscent of "Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid". without as many entertainment values. There's even a scene with Willis with a glass of champagne soaking in a bathtub in middle of a fancy hotel room. Later his girlfriend shoots photos of the guys. Sound familiar? Good buddies doing crimes politely in the modernizing west with a light-hearted flavor worked well for the earlier film and those aspects are the highlights in this one.
The film's main audience attraction is its downfall: the boys themselves. As much appeal as the young men here have for the female gender, they just don't have the acting chops of Paul Newman or Robert Redford. These actors in "The Newton Boys" are interchangeable enough that at times it's difficult to remember which brother is which.
Director Richard Linklater ("Slackers", "Before Sunrise") begins with a slow-moving delightful western that rambles for too long and eventually grinds to a halt. By the time that the two hours are up, you'll be wondering if most of it was filmed in slow motion.
The supporting cast, especially "ER"'s Julianna Margulies as Willis' babe, are interesting enough to provide some bright spots. Journeying through the days of 70 years ago is fun but not enough to hold the film together by itself.
The clips at the end from the "Tonight Show" are the highlight of the movie. That's unfortunate.
[This appeared in the 4/2/98 "Bloomington Voice", Bloomington, Indiana. Michael Redman can be contacted at redman@bvoice.com] -- mailto:redman@bvoice.com This week's film review at http://www.bvoice.com/ Film reviews archive at http://us.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Michael%20Redman
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