THE HIGHWAYMEN
US, 2019, 132 minutes, Colour.
Kevin Costner, Woody Harrelson, Kathy Bates, John Carroll Lynch, Thomas Mann, Kim Dickens, William Sadler.
Directed by John Lee Hancock.
The story of outlaws Bonnie and Clyde, operating in the early 1930s, was well known in its time, almost a legend, receiving a great deal of popular acclaim, regret at their deaths, thousands going to the funeral services. And they have a place in cinema history, especially with Arthur Penn’s 1967 film, Bonnie and Clyde, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway archetypal, their associates, and the famous sequence of their death, the car, riddled with bullets, their bodies and the bullets – and this is repeated in this film.
However, this is not really the story of Bonnie and Clyde who are glimpsed generally in the distance that only close-up in the finale and the Louisiana parade of their bodies in the car with the crowds jostling to touch it and the outlaws. This is, rather, a story of two former Texas Rangers who tracked them down, collaborated with law enforcement agencies in various states, realised where the couple were heading, where to meet them and shoot them down after the years of the rampage, robberies, and many deaths, especially of the police.
The film sets a tone with an opening prison sequence and an escape. The governor of Texas, Ma Ferguson (Kathy Bates) is exasperated but is persuaded by the warden of the prison (John Carroll Lynch) to hire two former Texas Rangers (after the governor had closed them down).
The film is a portrait of these two men, the taciturn Frank Hamer, played by Kevin Costner in his accustomed style, a hard man, shrewd, not afraid to use standover tactics. His partner, Maney Gault, is played by Woody Harrelson, also in his accustomed style, somewhat offbeat in his approach to life, a dedicated lawman but with some sardonic humour, a touch more humanity than Hamer, able to spin a story when he is trying to get information.
While the jurisdiction was in Texas, they decide to go over the border, break through police barriers, enlist the help of law enforcement in other states. There are some significant moments throughout the film, revealing the characters of the two men. This is especially true of a sequence where Hamer goes to meet Clyde Barrow’s father (William Sadler), the father knowing that his son is doomed but Hamer taking the opportunity to tell something of his life story, intentions of being a minister, shooting a man who brutalised him, becoming a lawman.
The climax, the deaths of Bonnie and Clyde, the car with so many bullet holes, the bodies also riddled, his room but contrasts with the adulation of the crowds surging towards the car after their death and the information that thousands attended their funeral services.
While there have been some television films and series about Bonnie and Clyde, this is a major change in perspective with the portrait of the lawmen.
1. The title? The Texas Rangers? History, abolition, hired to track Bonnie and Clyde? Restoration of the Rangers?
2. The popularity of Bonnie and Clyde in their time, that they robbed banks and not the poor? People not acknowledging their murders? The glamour, the style? On the rampage for so long? The images of the death? The thousands coming to the funerals?
3. Bonnie and Clyde in the background, the police tracking them, the governor of Texas calling in the former Texas Rangers? The jurisdiction? Beyond Texas? Involved in activities in other states, finally in Louisiana?
4. The landscapes of Texas, flat, the roads, dust, crops? The different states? Cities and towns? Police precincts? Labour camps? Prison sequences? The governor’s house and office? The feel of the mid 1930s? The musical score?
5. The opening, the cars on the road, the prison, the plan for escape, the guns, Bonnie and Clyde, Bonnie shooting, the death of the guard, the escape, the car? Hamer and Gault? Progress and impatience? Taking the final credit?
6. Introduction to Frank Hamer, at home, his wife, retired? The warden and his approach? his wife and her reaction? Not wanting him to go? Agreeing? The sandwiches? His going to the shooting practice and paying the boys? Travelling to Gault’s house? The introduction to Gault, family, retired, drinking in the past, his going into town, meeting with Hamer, the discussion, agreeing to go with him? Issues of jurisdiction?
7. Hamer, his background, telling the story to Clyde Barrow’s father, the work, the accusation, shooting his assailant? Intention to go to the
ministry? Money, paying fees, change of heart, going to the law? His tougher attitudes, the contrast with Gault� Gault, memories of their work, the shooting, yet some sensitivity, touches of humour, inventiveness in storytelling?
8. The reputation of Bonnie and Clyde, glimpsing them only throughout the film until their deaths? The aftermath, the crowds, besieging the car? The footage and the final photos?
9. Other agencies and law enforcement, sheriffs and their collaborating? The young officer who knew Clyde? Ingenuous, wanting to help, with the group, playing cards, the binoculars and his identifying the car? The impact of the experience?
10. The Rangers, tracking the outlaws, getting the information, the labour camp and the little girl with the doll, people reticent, Hamer and his brutality towards the service station manager, in Louisiana and the offering of the bribe, the sheriff refusing, collaborating?
11. Clyde Barrow’s father, his reflections on his son, knowing the death was inevitable, the conversation with Hamer, the life story?
12. The farmer, the work, his son, collaborating, the flat tire and Bonnie and Clyde stopping?
13. The portrait of the rangers, their personalities, using their instincts, skills, the role of the guns and Hamer are going to the store, Gault’s reaction? Their disgust at the media offer of the thousand dollars for the interview?
14. The other side of the Bonnie and Clyde story? Untold?
