The Newton Boys (1998)
The four Newton brothers are a poor farmer family in the 1920s. One day, the oldest of them, Willis, realizes that there's no future in the fields and offers his brothers to become bank robbers. Soon the family agrees. They become very famous robbers and execute the greatest train robbery in American history five years later.
- Gregory Jacobs
- Fred Lerner
- Trey Batchelor
- Vincent Palmo Jr.
- Richard Linklater
- Claude Stanush
- Richard Linklater
- Clark Walker
Rating: 6.1/10 by 173 users
Alternative Title:
Newton Boys - Irmãos Fora-da-Lei - BR
Country:
United States of America
Language:
English
Runtime: 02 hour 02 minutes
Budget: $27,000,000
Revenue: $76,000,000
Plot Keyword: robbery, based on novel or book, gangster, bank robber, based on true story, nitroglycerin, thief, crime spree, brother brother relationship, blown safe
Richard Linklater has tried hard with his cast here, but somehow this tale of the real life Newton gang whose criminal career culminated in one of America's most infamous train robberies just doesn't catch fire - at all. Matthew McConaughey (Willis) leads his brothers Jess (Ethan Hawke), Joe (Sweet Ulrich) and the scene stealing Vincent D'Onofrio (Dock) as the young men conclude - with the complicity of their mother (Gail Cronauer) that they don't need to live in rural penury for ever, and that with some meticulous planning they can accrue a considerable fortune without harming anyone but by robbing the railroad. Sadly, though, the actors don't really gel - they are four men who seem to be vying for screen time as much as anything else; there is little evidence of a team on screen which rather belies the truth about why this gang were at all successful. It does move a long apace, though - there is plenty of gun action and some fun pyrotechnics as their antics gain momentum and their targets become bigger. Historically, the ending is quite interesting - and I think quite suitable, though I very much doubt the railroad saw it that way. It's watchable, the production is fine and the dialogue is quite lively at times, but in the end, the sum of the parts just doesn't make for much of an whole. Disappointing.
