"The Newton Boys", Richard Linkletter's account on this family of criminals, was a surprise when it was shown on cable, recently. The strength of the story, which was co-written by the director, is based on a real family of bandits who never became as famous as other notorious criminals of the era. Perhaps, because they were basically farm boys, they never got involved in killing their victims, yet they manage to rob a string of banks that had a simple type of safe. Once bigger, and more complicated devices were adopted, it ended the way they did business.
Willis, the brain of the organization, learns from someone he meets on the road when he leaves his rural home, how to blow a bank safe with the help of explosives. Willis, in turn, gets his three brothers involved in helping him for the different jobs throughout the middle of the country, and even in Canada. Willis, who falls in love with the attractive employee of a hotel news and tobacco stand, is a successful robber whose luck runs out when he tries his hand at robbing a train that is carrying about three million dollars, a fatal miscalculation on his part.
The film is fun to watch because of the easy chemistry among all the brothers. Matthew McConaughey, Ethan Hawke, Skeet Ulrich, and Vincent D'Onofrio appear to be having a great time with their characters and with each other. Joanna Margulies is a lovely Louise, the woman who falls in love with Willis. Dwight Yoakam is seen as the man who teaches Willis his trade as a bank robber.
At the end of the film we watch one of the brothers appearing as a guest of "The Tonight Show" as he looked then. All brothers, it appears went straight after their brush with the law and lived long lives. Richard Linkletter did a film that is fun to watch as it is never heavy, and keeps moving at a quick pace.
Willis, the brain of the organization, learns from someone he meets on the road when he leaves his rural home, how to blow a bank safe with the help of explosives. Willis, in turn, gets his three brothers involved in helping him for the different jobs throughout the middle of the country, and even in Canada. Willis, who falls in love with the attractive employee of a hotel news and tobacco stand, is a successful robber whose luck runs out when he tries his hand at robbing a train that is carrying about three million dollars, a fatal miscalculation on his part.
The film is fun to watch because of the easy chemistry among all the brothers. Matthew McConaughey, Ethan Hawke, Skeet Ulrich, and Vincent D'Onofrio appear to be having a great time with their characters and with each other. Joanna Margulies is a lovely Louise, the woman who falls in love with Willis. Dwight Yoakam is seen as the man who teaches Willis his trade as a bank robber.
At the end of the film we watch one of the brothers appearing as a guest of "The Tonight Show" as he looked then. All brothers, it appears went straight after their brush with the law and lived long lives. Richard Linkletter did a film that is fun to watch as it is never heavy, and keeps moving at a quick pace.