One of 2019’s best films popped up on Netflix one March weekend and disappeared into a sea of streaming options the next. A half a century after Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway’s revolutionary Bonnie and Clyde (1967), The Highwaymen delivers a retelling from the Texas Rangers' side. It sounds like a bad idea. It's not.
Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson star as Frank Hamer and Maney Gault, the potential heroes pulled out of retirement to hunt and catch the antiheroes rampaging through the South. Ma Ferguson, who sends out crews of detectives, is portrayed by Kathy Bates.
Costner hasn’t been this good in decades. He and Harrelson make a believable, bickering couple of grumpy old men, and their chemistry does make you wish you were watching this on the big screen. So does the cinematography.
Director John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side) elevates what could have been a simple road TV movie into a cinematic treat full of period details, Texas landscapes, and star performances. It's a fun find on Netflix for sure.
In a nutshell: It isn’t going to redefine movies like Bonnie & Clyde did, but it’s an interesting perspective and one of the most entertaining films recently offered on free TV.
Award potential: None. It’s in the shadow of one of Hollywood’s greats.
The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.
Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson star as Frank Hamer and Maney Gault, the potential heroes pulled out of retirement to hunt and catch the antiheroes rampaging through the South. Ma Ferguson, who sends out crews of detectives, is portrayed by Kathy Bates.
Costner hasn’t been this good in decades. He and Harrelson make a believable, bickering couple of grumpy old men, and their chemistry does make you wish you were watching this on the big screen. So does the cinematography.
Director John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side) elevates what could have been a simple road TV movie into a cinematic treat full of period details, Texas landscapes, and star performances. It's a fun find on Netflix for sure.
In a nutshell: It isn’t going to redefine movies like Bonnie & Clyde did, but it’s an interesting perspective and one of the most entertaining films recently offered on free TV.
Award potential: None. It’s in the shadow of one of Hollywood’s greats.
The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.
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