Customer Reviews

Newton Boys [VHS]

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

What is wrong with you people? This movie is hysterical. Vincent D'Onofrio (the great under-appreciated character vet) and Ethan Hawke are the best, you have to see the ad-libs and particularly the scene where they rob the moneybags in Toronto. D'Onofrio gets tackled and Hawke ends up dragging around a man on his ankle like a little kid on hanging on their mother. Ok, I'll watch anything with Vincent D'Onofrio, but the movie is still great besides the fact that he, my favorite actor, is in it. The movie is telling the true story, like it says in the opening ...DUH..., so why are you expecting soapy dramatizations and sex scenes when it's about them robbing banks and how they did it? I could watch it again and again, unlike most of these hyped-up garbage movies coming out of Hollywood now. See it or you're missing a piece of history!

I saw this in the theater and thought it was great, but no one else I knew had seen it. Then I saw it on DVD and bought it quickly. It was just as good as I remembered.

This is a "gangster" movie without gangsters. No one gets killed or tortured graphically. It's a real life story of depression era brothers trying to get some cash and having some adventures along the way.

I think Hawke puts in one of his best performances ever. Dwight Yoakam also contributes some good acting, especially when compared to his fabulous "Sling Blade" villan.

The only flaw is the length. The movie drags a little after a while, but it still manages to make you care enough about the characters to see it through to the end.

The final credits featuring Willis and Joe Newton at the end of their lives make the film worth owning. It's one of the most clever ways to make the credits worth watching I've seen.

Give this movie a chance. It's well acted and is aesthetically pleasing to watch. Plus it's really low cost!

This is the type of film that you don't see everyday. Four real-life bankrobbers who happen to be brothers, their safe-cracking accomplice and lots of gunfire, but no deaths. This is entertainment at its best. This is also a very different step for director, Richard Linklater whose other credits include DAZED AND CONFUSED, SLACKER, and SUBURBIA. Allof which were relatively low-budget but true to life. There has been much said about this movie and the "lack of plot" , but this is where you remember that this is a true story and none of Linklater's other films had plots either. The film moves along at a nice leisurely pace giving you a chance to learn about and like the characters. As far as performances go, there isn't a bad one in the bunch. (the cast is outstanding) There is plenty of action to satisfy all of the DIE HARD fans out there and when the action is toned down, it is fun to watch the poor old farmboys plan their next big heist. It has to be said that, of all the performances, Dwight Yoakam, playing a very different role than his Doyle in SLING BLADE, is the best. If you're looking for a night of action and good old fashioned, downhome characters, give it a try. It is suitable for the whole family and it is definitely worth owning. SO, forget renting. Go buy it on DVD. Now!!!

Richard Linklater's The Newton Boys eschews much of the post-modern trappings that have defined the western genre in the nineties. Sure, it begins with a credits sequence that mimics the style of an old silent serial (complete with a fisheye lens), and it has one scene in which some of the eponymous boys are accused of stealing from a movie house (though they are never convicted), but the film's sensibilities seem much closer to those of the 1920's in which the film was set. It's an old-fashioned work, and that feeling is compounded by some wonderful documentary footage that plays during the credits. The comments of those involved in the actual events lend an immeasurable air of authenticity to the film. It might be tempting to classify the film's identification with the bank robbers as post-modern, especially since Bonnie and Clyde essentially kicked off the modern era of filmmaking, but consider the fact that even 1903's The Great Train Robbery gave more screen time to its criminals than its posse.

That screen time tells a fairly standard story, and there are few genuine surprises to be found in that respect. Still, the movie isn't so much about plot as mood and character. This is the closest Linklater has come to making a Hollywood film, and he uses the resources to enhance, rather than ignore, his worldview. The cast is fairly excellent, with Ethan Hawke's drunkard being the standout. Matthew McConaughey has the largest role, and shows more charm here than in nearly any other film that he has been in. Although the film's setting is far from the modern day slacker world of Linklater's other films, the prevailing attitude seems to be the same. It's a mix of Texan charm and genteel sophistication. This treatment of the subject matter doesn't ever come off as cocky. It creates a wonderful sense of respect toward history. Several times, the Newton boys are allowed to state their socio-political justification for robbing banks. That they use flawed logic isn't the point. That they get a chance to make their case is. Linklater really isn't an astounding visualist (though the film is attractive) nor does he have a tremendous sense of pacing. What he does have is a humanist streak that runs throughout his films. Even when a double cross occurs in the film, he pauses to note that the traitor continued to assert his innocence. That genuine regard for his characters and fidelity to his setting are his strongest directorial traits. I'll take that over puffed up set pieces and quick cutting any day.

I didn't see this movie when it first hit the theatres but, being a fan of Matthew McConaughey, Dwight Yoakam and Skeet Ulrich, I rented it when it became available. GREAT, fun movie! And based on the true story of four brothers from Uvalde, Texas (where McConaughey was born) who were not only the most successful bank robbers in US history but ALL lived to ripe old age, unlike those that followed them a few years later, like Bonnie & Clyde, Dillinger, etc. McConaughey, Ulrich, Ethan Hawke (excellent!) and Vincent D'Onofrio play the Newton Boys. Dwight Yoakam is wonderful as their "cowardly" sidekick who handles the nitroglycerin the gang uses on their jobs. Julianna Margulies has THE most beautiful 1920s costumes in her role as McConaughey's love interest, Louise. The film also has the best honky-tonk soundtrack, courtesy of an Austin band called Bad Livers (get ahold of a copy if you can - it is SO worth it!) and during the closing credits, we get to see the real Joe and Willis Newton in interviews. Joe's is particularly funny as he is on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson". And the robbery the gang pulls in Toronto has GOT to be the funniest debacle in outlaw movie history! There is a book available at Amazon entitled "The Newton Boys" which this film is based on and it's basically the oral history of the gang's exploits as remembered by Willis and Joe. Makes for fascinating reading and one other bit of trivia - when Dock Newton (D'Onofrio's character) was in his 70s, in 1968 I believe, he tried to rob the First National Bank of Rowena, Texas which just happened to be the birthplace of one infamous Miss Bonnie Parker. Just another great bit of American history not taught in schools. Heck, even Frank Hamer, ALSO of Bonnie & Clyde fame, makes a "cameo" in this movie. Just watch this movie and been amazed at one fascinating family!

For once, a based-upon-a-true-story movie that didn't put me to sleep. The costumes were marvelous (what I wouldn't give to dress like Julianna Margulies), and I even found the credits entertaining, due to the video clips of the actual Newton boys in interview. This is a movie that would even please my father-in-law! Although I kept expecting one of the boys to die (what, a movie that doesn't kill off half the characters?!), and usually the cute young ones always bite the biscuit. This movie wasn't the best of the year, but any movie that I can watch without someone in my family hating it gets my 5 star approval.

The only reason I rented this movie was because Matthew McConaughey was in it, and I had heard it was one of his best. By the time I had finished watching, I was really glad I had.

I've never been a big fan of blood-and-gore-everyone-dies-horribly films, so I was really glad to see that this movie only had the minimal amount of blood, and no deaths. For bankrobbers, thats pretty hard to manage.

Willis Newton (Matthew McConaughey) sums up the Newton Brother's "laws" by saying, "There are a lot of things us Newton's do, but there are some we don't do. We don't kill no body, we don't steal from women and children, and we don't rat." I love it--bank robbers with morals!

I highly reccomend this to anyone who loves true stories without blood and gore. Those who are big fans of action films, however, probably won't enjoy it very much.

If there was a person that knew this movie inside and out, it would be me!! This movie is one of my all-time favorites. If you like Comedies, Action, Drama, or Flat-out great movies, then this is the one for you. Take it from me, Skeet and Matthew are absolutely wonderful in this movie!!!

I saw this on HBO recently when I was home sick. What a fun farce! The four Newton boys and a safecracker manage to bumble through 80 bank robberies. But things get serious when they try to pull of a "big" job.

The acting is outstanding, but Dwight Yoakum and Skeet Ulrich turn in phenomenal supporting performances. Yoakum plays the hypochondriac safecracker and Ulrich is youngest brother Joe. Ulrich has the most to do as he matures from baby brother to convict, while serving as the conscience, worrier, romantic, and accountant of the group.

The Texas accents were great. Never once were the accents or speech distracting from the movie itself. The music is also perfect for this movie. It intensifies for a moment as something blows up, or you think something bad is about to happen, then it goes back to bum-bump.. dee bum bum bum-bump.

Whoever thought the line "You're mean, you know that?" was dumb, is missing the point. These boys had guns full of bird shot. They had no intention of hurting anyone, and when they were caught in the act and this lady wouldn't shut up, they worst thing they could think to do was call her mean. Hilarious!

I think the film missed some opportunities for character development. Doc was underdeveloped and Vincent D'Onofrio underutilized. There was a subtle resentment from Jess towards Willis that could have been brought out. I didn't like the stylized introduction. But overall this movie was a blast.

I thouht that this movie was a delight to watch. Not only does it do quite a job presenting what it was like in the 20's, it also showed a (what I thought was a hearfelt story) of how brothers stick together. The Newton Boys (Willis, Dock, Jess, and Joe) go through years of robbing banks, until they're caught after robbing a train. Without giving away any of the plot, all I can say is that the Newton Boys bring you through a whole bunch of interesting and entertaining ordeals that will leave you feeling satisfied with the movie.