The Newton Boys Movie Review 1997

Fact-based drama chronicling the careers and love lives of the bank robbing Newton brothers, who robbed their way from Texas to Toronto during the '20s and '30s. They lived and worked by a romantic credo: no killing, stealing from women or children, and no ratting each other out. McConaughey and Ulrich lead the group as Willis and Joe, respectively, and both prove likeable gangsters. Hawke and D'Onfrio do their best in less developed roles. Highlight is the great train robbery, which garnered the outlaws $3 million and eventually landed the boys in court. Though well-acted with interesting material, Linklater's departure lacks precise angle, which keeps the story from really humming. Stealing the show is the real-life footage of a 1980 "Tonight Show" where Johnny Carson interviews the personable Joe.

Distribution

Fox Home Entertainment, PO Box 900, Beverly Hills, CA 90213, Phone: (310)369-3900, Toll-free: 888-223-4FOX, Fax: (310)369-5811, URL: http://www.foxmovies.com/index1.html, Remarks: Also known as Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 122 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

True Crime, Trains, True Stories, Period Piece: 1920s, Chicago, Brothers & Sisters, Canada, Toronto, Director/Star Teams: Linklater & Hawke

Screenplay

Claude Stanush, Clark Lee Walker

Cast

Matthew McConaughey, Skeet Ulrich, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio, Julianna Margulies, Dwight Yoakam, Gail Cronauer, Chloe Webb, Charles Gunning, Becket Gremmels, Richard Jones

Cinematography

Peter James

Director

Richard Linklater

Music

Edward D. Barnes

Producer

Anne Walker-McBay, John Sloss, 20th Century-Fox