TAM - Hancock Back in the Saddle

The Highwaymen Film Review and Thoughts

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The Highwaymen released back in March of 2019 and is John Lee Hancock's most recent directing effort since his material with The Founder back in 2016 which was well received from critics. Hancock known most notably for “The Blind Side” recruits the talents of Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson to take on the act of two former Texas rangers with a nitty-gritty past to pursuit the notorious Bonnie and Clyde in the 1930s. The film is based on the true events of the criminals Bonnie and Clyde, the young but doomed lovers who sparked uproar throughout America; enchanting lovers, rustling newspapers; robbing banks and shooting cops. A classic tragedy from beginning to end. If you love crime and westerns this might be the concoction for you. Running at around 132 minutes this picture is right in the sweet spot.

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The film starts rough, showing the brutal force of the criminals at hand. Bonnie and Clyde a young couple in dire need of help with their ford v8 (the real killer to be quite honest) before unloading their mobile armory into any poor and unfortunate lawmen in their way. The cycle continues throughout the movie revealing the true nature of the love duo’s killings.

What I love about these sequences is how quickly the cuts and shots are to show the helplessness the law had to have felt during those moments. One moment they are offering a helping hand to a young couple and the next moment shotguns and rifles all have been revealed and it’s too late for them to react. To finish off the matters Bonnie steps up to the dying and bleeding corpses of the lawmen and looks them in the eye as she sends them on their way. Brutal.

Cut to a ranch in countryside Texas, Frank Hamer played by Kevin Costner is enjoying his time in retirement. His wife hosts a garden party outside and drinks and food are shared but inside the ranch, Kevin is at obvious unease and doesn’t seem to be enjoying his retirement as initially shown. Nothing is revealed but it’s obvious this guy is a hardened veteran who’s paid his dues to old Uncle Sam. Frank is recruited back into force by the Governor and sets on his way. He heads to the local gun shop in what quite possibly is my favorite scene throughout the entire movie. He asks the owner and his son to see about every weapon, he doesn’t check every weapon although because he knows what he needs. He buys out the entire inventory of the store locked and loaded with enough firepower to take down Bonnie and Clyde down to their 10th cousin. They load up Kevin’s vehicle and he’s on his way after meeting up with his partner in law Maney played by none other than Woody Harrelson. The two set off to hunt down the infamous criminals and it turns into a game of cat and mouse. Bonnie and Clyde with the benefit of systematic planning and hometown proud seem to always be one step ahead of the Highwaymen. Frank and Maney doomed in their old ways risk being deemed irrelevant by the technological advances of the 1930s. Not to mention their withering old age. (Thank god Frank doesn’t have a kid to chase around) But when it comes to the tales of cops and robbers we know who will always prevail in this narrative.

The story concludes on a great high point, the highwaymen gathered in a house awaiting news of the criminals' whereabouts as they prepare for their trap with old uncle Maney telling stories of their cruel old ways and the next day they are off to stop the chase. It all comes to an end as Bonnie and Clyde stop along the road to help a civilian with a tire change in an ironic situation and the police ambush them as Frank is forced to open fire. With the events leading up to this shootout the Highwaymen had accepted that this chase was only going to end one way. A bullet-ridden bloodbath and that’s exactly what the infamous ford v8 turned into. Clydes thrashed body leans on the steering wheel as the car slowly creeps forward with the law still laying firepower into the car. As it comes to an eventual stop and the haze clears it’s a moment of relief for everybody. But there are no smiles or cheer on the lonesome road. “Manos Arriba”. To stay true to history the following scene is the infamous ford with Bonnie and Clyde's corpse still in the vehicle being paraded through Arcadia as the townsfolk surround it like a circus hoping to grab a glimpse or souvenir from the infamous criminal. Justice.

To wrap things up, I left a lot of noteworthy details from the film out but have recalled most of the important information that I found the most necessary. The Highwaymen is a great film with direct storytelling that did not aim too high but was nonetheless a great piece of the story. It’s not the glitz and glamour story of Bonnie and Clyde but the cold hard truth of it from the law perspective. Some parts of the story dragged as it turned into a game of following the leader but where the story fell short Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson picked it back up. My final rating is 7/10. The Highwaymen is a worthy watch that I enjoyed thoroughly from beginning to end.

“He's got the mental range of a windshield wiper but he's reliable.”

After further retrospection, I have concluded that without Woody Harrelson this is not the same movie. Thanks, Woody.