Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

The Newton Boys

 
Movies:

The Newton Boys

  • Director: Richard Linklater
  • AMG Rating: starstar
  • Genre: Crime
  • Movie Type: Modern Western, Crime Drama
  • Themes: Sibling Relationships, Bank Robbery, Crime Sprees
  • Main Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Skeet Ulrich, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio, Julianna Margulies
  • Release Year: 1998
  • Country: US
  • Run Time: 135 minutes
  • MPAA Rating: PG13

Plot

Richard Linklater's fifth feature is a major departure from his previous work -- his first big-budget picture, it's also the first of his films since his 1987 Super-8 effort "It's Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books" not set during his signature 24-hour time frame, offering instead a ravishing bankrobber period piece buoyed by a gentleness of spirit rare among movies of any genre. Its true story tells of the four Texas-born Newton brothers, who between 1919 and 1924 were the most successful robbers in the U.S.; led by the newly-paroled Willis Newton (Matthew McConaughey, in arguably his strongest performance to date), the gang -- siblings Jess (Ethan Hawke), Joe (Skeet Ulrich) and Dock (Vincent D'Onofrio), as well as nitroglycerin expert Brentwood Glasscock (Dwight Yoakam) -- embarks on a crime spree which spreads across the U.S. and into Canada, heisting bank vaults only at night in order not to hurt or kill anyone. (As Willis figures it, the bankers -- all covered by insurance -- are merely thieves themselves anyway.) A sweetly contemplative film, The Newton Boys is almost an anti-crime caper -- no one gets killed, and the violence which does occasionally erupt is handled with a light comic touch. By no means a master storyteller, Linklater has instead crafted a movie tailored to his own strengths, among them his skillful direction of actors, his flair for period detail and his unerring sense of rhythm; like all of his work, The Newton Boys is also informed by its maker's deep and abiding love for the film medium itself, complete with any number of striking visual and emotional references to classics ranging from Greed to Jules et Jim. While viewers expecting slam-bang action typical of the genre will undoubtedly be disappointed, those seeking a more humane and poetic alternative will be utterly charmed. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

Cast

Dwight Yoakam - Brentwood Glassock; Charles Gunning - Slim; Becket Gremmels - Lewis; Gail Cronauer - Ma newton; Chloe Webb - Avis Glasscock; Bo Hopkins - K. P. Aldrich

Credit

John Frick - Art Director, Andrea Dopaso - Art Director, Keith Fletcher - Associate Producer, Don Phillips - Casting, Clark Lee Walker - Co-producer, Shelley Komarov - Costume Designer, Greg Jacobs - First Assistant Director, Richard Linklater - Director, Sandra Adair - Editor, John Sloss - Executive Producer, Edward D. Barnes - Composer (Music Score), Catherine Hardwicke - Production Designer, Peter James - Cinematographer, Anne Walker-McBay - Producer, Jeanette Scott - Set Designer, John Pritchett - Sound/Sound Designer, Clark Lee Walker - Screenwriter, Richard Linklater - Screenwriter, Claude Stanush - Screenwriter, Bad Livers - Featured Music, Claude Stanush - Book Author

Similar Movies

Bonnie and Clyde; Butch and Sundance: The Early Days; Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; Harry and Walter Go to New York; Jesse James; Orphans; The Sting; They Live by Night; Young Guns; Thieves Like Us; Normal Life; Texas Rangers; O Brother, Where Art Thou?; American Outlaws; Ned Kelly
Search unanswered questions...
Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics
Wikipedia: The Newton Boys
Top
The Newton Boys

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Richard Linklater
Produced by Keith Fletcher
John Sloss
Clark Lee Walker
Claude Stanush
Written by Claude Stanush (book)
Clark Lee Walker
Richard Linklater
Starring Matthew McConaughey
Skeet Ulrich
Ethan Hawke
Vincent D'Onofrio
Dwight Yoakam
Music by Edward D. Barnes
Cinematography Peter James
Editing by Sandra Adair
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date(s) March 27, 1998
Running time 113 min.
Country  United States
Language English
Budget $27,000,000
Gross revenue $10,452,012

The Newton Boys is a 1998 drama film based on the true story of the Newton Gang, a family of bank robbers from Uvalde, Texas. The film stars Matthew McConaughey, Skeet Ulrich, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Dwight Yoakam. It was filmed in Austin, Bartlett, and San Antonio, Texas.

Contents

Plot

"Over the course of five years (1919-1924) the Newton Boys, a group of brothers, were the most successful bank and train robbers in North America, traveling from Texas to Toronto without ever firing a fatal gunshot. Willis Newton (Matthew McConaughey) is the eldest brother who is determined to improve the fortunes of the family by becoming a 'businessman' whose business is bank robbing. With the rationale that all banks are insured — insurance companies being the biggest crooks — the brothers begin their spree. [In] 1924 they executed the biggest mail train robbery in American history, stealing $3 million from a train in Rondout, Illinois (a Chicago suburb). All goes smoothly until Brentwood Glasscock (Dwight Yoakam) accidentally shoots Dock Newton (Vincent D'Onofrio). Going against the odds, they decide to take Dock to a doctor. The court trial that follows sees the boys and their partners sentenced to prison."[1]

In the film, the Texas Ranger who arrests Jess Newton is Frank Hamer. In reality, the arresting officer was Frank Hamer's brother Harrison, also a Texas Ranger.[2]

Cast

Reception

It received mixed to positive reviews from critics, The film holds a 59% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 34 reviews.

Trivia

  • While on location for this project, Dwight Yoakam wrote the songs he used for the album "The Long Way Home."
  • All three writers, the director, producer and two highest paid leads (Matthew McConaughey and Ethan Hawke) along with most of the production crew are native Texans, making this the most expensive production about Texas by Texans until arguably 2004's The Alamo.
  • Opening credits play the way they would in a film made during the silent and early sound period (1920-1940).
  • As the credits roll, portions of two interviews are shown, each with one brother. One is from a 1980 episode of "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson."

References

  1. ^ The Newton Boys (1998). Baseline
  2. ^ Hamer, Bud, Bobbie and Harrison (interviewed by Robert Nieman) (2006). Oral History Interview with Texas Ranger Descendants. Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum

External links


 
 
Learn More
Newton Boys (1998 Album by Newton Boys)
Ethan Hawke (Actor)
Richard Linklater (Filmmaker)

What are newtons? Read answer...
What is the newton? Read answer...
What is a Newton? Read answer...

Help us answer these
What is the newton power of a tree when a boy pulls it with 1200 newton power?
What did Isaac Newton like to play with as a boy?
What did isaac newton make when he was a boy?

Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

 

Copyrights:

Movies. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Movie Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "The Newton Boys" Read more

 

Mentioned in