Directed by:
John Lee HancockScreenplay:
John FuscoCinematography:
John SchwartzmanComposer:
Thomas NewmanCast:
Kevin Costner, Woody Harrelson, Kathy Bates, Kim Dickens, John Carroll Lynch, W. Earl Brown, Thomas Mann, David Furr, William Sadler, Jesse C. Boyd (more)VOD (1)
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Kevin Costner plays legendary lawman Frank Hamer and Woody Harrelson will play his long-suffering sidekick Manny Gault. Though both men were out of the Rangers by the time Bonnie & Clyde started their robbery reign, they were commissioned as special investigators, coaxed back by a consortium of banks to assemble a posse and end the robbery spree of the notorious gang reputed to have killed 13 cops - and others. The Highwaymen takes the vantage point of the formidable posse headed by Hamer, an old style Texas Ranger who’d survived 100 gunfights and killed 53 people. (South by Southwest Film Festival)
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Reviews (9)
After Triple Frontier, Netflix pulls another ace from its sleeve, a macho western/gangster flick set in the 1930s, where the excellent Texas Ranger duo of Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson are hot on the heels of the legendary Bonnie and Clyde. John Lee Hancock perfectly captures the feel of 1930's American South (the costumes, the cars and the guns a thing of beauty) and it's safe to say he gave the two stars a chance for a solid comeback, as they both do an excellent job. In terms of direction, acting, visuals and atmosphere, the film is flawless, the only issue may be the slower pace, but I had a decent time throughout. The highlights are definitely Costner purchasing a gun, Woody's solo in the bathroom, the bandit story and the final carnage. "Clyde might be the king, but I am a Texas Ranger! You little shit!" 80%
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This was so terribly ordinary, I'd be hard pressed to find a more mediocre film. Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson play two retired rangers who are called in to catch criminals who go around killing people on sight. The problem is that we don't get any info about the two protagonists or their background, so we as viewers can't build any kind of relationship with them, and we don't get any scraps of information about the two bad guys anyway; we don't even see them on screen until the end, so we don't really know who they are. The result is a two-hour wandering from place to place and just riding on inertia until the end, which can't even be called a finale, because nothing happens there either. And so I ask, what was the film supposed to give us? Visually and technically, it is "okay" and the acting is also okay (although frankly neither Costner nor Harrelson have much work with, as apart from their occasional dialogues and cold faces we get almost nothing), but the script is just incredibly dry and punishingly empty. Very poor.
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I love these films - quiet slow melancholy, nostalgic reminiscing about the old days, and the sympathetic main characters and their interesting story. Everyone knows or guesses how it turns out, but it's not about the destination here - it's about the journey. The Highwaymen is, in short, a great “modern" western about two retired cowboys and their (last?) chore, and Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson literally shine in it (a big thanks to anyone who thought of putting these two together). The film keeps its distance from Bonnie and Clyde, but it's only to the benefit of the cause - they don't put as much attention on each other and act as a creeping, uncalculated evil (the closest we get to them is when Hamer and Gault get to them, but that's too late, of course), dangerous because of what they've already done and what they can do, and what celebrities they've become. There are a lot of question marks and exclamation marks throughout the clear and familiar story that still apply, and I get the impression that this is not only the best Netflix film I've seen so far, but one of the best films ever. I could watch the scene with Clyde's father over and over.
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An atmospheric, non-action crime film set in the 1930s that bears a little resemblance to Untouchables and Public Enemies in terms of expression, but falls short in terms of direction, scene composition, escalating tension and action. Costner and Harrelson are the draws and their cynical duo is the highlight of the film. Unfortunately, the main villains are given woefully little space and everything around them is basically insufficient. Not great enough as a robust crime drama, OK as an intimate drama between two obsolete detectives, but the ambition was obviously higher. But Netflix can check it off the list anyway.
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A wholesome homage to westerns that revives classical traditions like its likeable heroes. Viewers hungry for shootouts and darkness won’t be satisfied, but the neglected fans of the kind of genre flicks that back in the day were created like on a treadmill should be elated. If you liked the recent Hell or High Water and don’t mind an even more sedentary approach, this should be the film for you. And although a deeper look into the psychology of the characters, giving them more original conflicts, and not relying so much on proven templates wouldn’t have hurt, I actually enjoyed the slightly generic concept, I felt good in the company of the heroes and at one point I had no problem accepting the pace and the ambitions. Costner and Harrelson, especially, are very good, and Hancock was a surprise.
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