What happens when we replace the old Bonnie & Clyde story with one that follows the men who dogged their steps until they were eventually caught and brought to justice? Netflix's "The Highwaymen" happens, of course.
If you mention Bonnie and Clyde to anyone in the US, their face will light up in recognition of two of the most infamous baddies to ever make their way across America in the 1930s. We've been regaled with tales of the duo's crime spree, cutting a broad swathe through Texas, and even including a massive jailbreak in January of 1934. The story is somewhat rehashed, but Netflix, using their preternatural wisdom, decided that they would make a new Bonnie and Clyde movie, but instead of following the daring duo directly, we would see the story told from the eyes of the lawmen hunting them.
Lawmen Manny Gault (Woody Harrelson) and Frank Hamer (Kevin Costner) leave retirement behind, coming back to lend a hand with the infamous pair of Bonnie and Clyde. The great Eastham prison break forced the formerly anti-Ranger Miriam Ferguson (Kathy Bates) to relax her stance on law enforcement. Hamer was allowed back into the Texas Highway Patrol, purely for cosmetic reasons as his main aim in rejoining the force was to bring the fugitives to justice. In his bid to do right by the people who suffered at the hands of the criminals, Hamer enlists Gault as a kindred spirit, and together they chase the pair of robbers across Texas, culminating in the final battle and ultimate death of the bandits.
It would be a bit of an understatement to say that this film isn't your usual telling of Bonnie and Clyde, but there are some things that Netflix does exceptionally well and others that come across exceptionally poorly. While the film is enjoyable, the pacing does leave a lot to be desired, and at times it feels like a drag to sit and watch while the lawmen bumble about. While most tellings of this tale highlight the angle to reckless youth, romantic abandon and all the trappings of style and glamour that two outlaws from the '30s bring with them, Netflix's film looks at it from a more solemn perspective - that of law and order, with order being the more important of the two. Let's break this down into some more digestible parts:
The script is a strong contender, as it is well-written and displays some very memorable characters. While it does simplify the actual lawmen into a more TV-friendly sense, the essentials of the characters are there, and their historical truism does peek through every now and again. The premise for the story is both involved and fascinating since it's a brand new way to tell an old story. The plot is simple, which isn't a bad thing. But that simplicity misses out on representing the complexity of characters. Sure, we have no inert love stories or deep internal motivations that the actual lawmen had, but it would have added a bit more flavor to the plot. Primarily, the script sticks to the story and doesn't take any liberties with it. The writing is good, the concept is intense and exciting, but the content is a little barebones.
After watching the film, no one fills the roles of the lawmen better than Harrelson and Costner. Both are great actors in their own right, but as we mentioned before, the depth of the script didn't really allow for much in-depth portrayal of character development. Even so, these stalwarts of the stage delivered performances that didn't let the ball drop (aside from when the script itself was dragging). The apparent complaints are few and far between. Costner tends to default to a particular old-man role, and while it suits his look, it's not a fresh character, but instead another facet of the same personality. Harrelson's Gault, on the other hand, is a bit funny and happy-go-lucky, the sort of behavior one expects from a man who is likely to see tomorrow as his last day.
While it isn't truly an action film, there were parts in the middle of it where it ran off the rails as far as keeping the audience interested. If I didn't have to watch this for the review, there would be moments when I'd be using my phone to check social media. And to me, that's where the disconnect comes. It's not a matter of having a plot that drives itself but having a pair of characters that draw the viewer into the film and immerse them in it. While there are moments that manage to do this, a lot of the in-between moments feel like fillers - like they were tossed in there because Netflix needed it to make up the time.
There's a definite skew in film these days towards "tried and true" formulae, and in this case, The Highwaymen falls prey to it, although not obviously. At its heart, it's a "buddy cop" movie with the things you expect from one of those movies. It's not quite a disappointment, but like the image with the vase and two faces, once you recognize it, it becomes difficult if not impossible to "un-see" it. I firmly believe they could have done much more with the concept and the delivery, but even though it does stick out with its "buddy cop" overtones, it does present a strange juxtaposition of authority needing to rebel to represent itself.
I can't down on this film too much, but based on what it promised to what it delivered, there was a bit of longing at the end of it. The worst parts of the film come from recognizing it as something it shouldn't be. But the best parts of the film come from realizing what it's trying to say and the story it's trying to tell. Many movies in the past have romanticized the robbery spree that Bonnie and Clyde wreaked across Texas in the 30s, but few ever celebrate the heroes that brought them to justice (albeit by gunning them down). This film seeks to do that and to show that even those lawmen had to fight their own demons in the form of a governor that had no faith in the office they held to the public opinion surrounding them at the time. It's an inspiring story, but it could have been done a lot better than it eventually was.
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