Review of The Highwaymen (2019) by Mciann — 08 Aug 2021

This film is a finely crafted period piece about depression era America. Everything from the setting to the dialogue to the brilliantly executed musical score to the attire pulls you to a different time. The factors the critics tended to pan - the lack of perspective from Bonnie and Clyde themselves, for example, are to my mind deliberately conspicuous in their absence. The film is telling a story about the integrity of social institutions in a time of hardship and change, and in that story, I find the contradictions to be the fundamental flavor of the film rather than an unpleasant aftertaste.

This is one of my favorite movies. I rewatch it frequently. I think it got **** on by the critics because it wasn't the Bonnie and Clyde movie *they* would have liked to see. Perhaps it isn't the best retelling of the story of Bonnie and Clyde, but then again, maybe this movie is trying to tell a different story.

The movie isn't about whether or not Bonnie and Clyde deserve to be depicted in a sympathetic light. It's about the much more challenging and timely question of whether or not America as a civilization deserves to be depicted in a sympathetic light. And in that, I find it to be eminently relevant and meaningful.