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
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
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. By 1924, they executed the biggest mail train robbery in American history, stealing 3 million dollars 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.
In commemoration of the robbery that occurred in Rondout, Illinois, there is a historical marker, which reads:
The Rondout Train Robbery.
On June 12, 1924, one of the largest train robberies in U.S. history occurred near here. Bandits who boarded the train in Chicago forced postal clerks to surrender sacks containing more that two million dollars in securities and cash.
Local police apprehended the gunmen within a few days. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case and identified the masterminds, one of whom was a trusted employee of the Postal Service. Some of the loot was never recovered.
In all, eight men were convicted in Federal Court, and sentenced within seven months of the robbery.
Erected by the Libertyville-Mundelein Historical Society, the Lake County Museum Association, and the Illinois State Historical Society, 1981.
Reception
It received mixed to positive reviews from critics, The film holds a 59% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 34 reviews.
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).
