Fans of the Director will probably be disappointed in this rather straight telling of the Real-Life, dirt poor Bank Robbers. There is a colorful often made story of Anti-Heroes waiting to be told here, but for some reason, while engaging and fun this Movie kind of disappoints and at the same time is a somewhat amusing, if not a terribly interesting misfire.Here the talented and usually off-kilter Director has been restrained by the conventions of the Genre. It is all handled with taste and is a tactful representation of likable Criminals who never killed anybody, but they did rob 80 banks. That in itself is a feat worthy of any Comic Book Character.There is a standout cast and the Movie looks great. But in the end it kind of loses momentum, but is never completely unworthy of the gist it created. Not a bad diversion and is Worth a Watch as a rather lightweight entertainment that will let down more viewers than it captures. A bit different and deserves more credit than criticism.

Though not on par with some of his more noted works such as Dazed and Confused or Before Sunrise, The Newton Boys is still a noteworthy film by Richard Linklater, focusing on the all-to-real story of the four Newton brothers from Ulvade, Texas who ended up robbing over eighty banks and a train in just four years before finally being arrested and imprisoned in 1924.What Linklater does here that is most interesting is his use of music and detached style of shooting. Nearly all of the music on the soundtrack consists of blues-infused, upbeat country style which is consistent with the setting of this movie but not necessarily the tone. There is a dark underlying element to this story, most notably in the evolution of the main character Willis, played so wonderfully and engagingly by Matthew McConaughey it makes one shake their head as to why he would continue to make useless romantic comedies these days. Willis begins the film as bright, optimistic, a loyal son and brother but upset about the way justice is mistreated in south Texas. Determined to right this wrong, he becomes enamored with the idea of robbing banks, justifying it by claiming that the banks are the real thieves and his form of stealing would simply be a little thief taking from a big one. Though many of the subsequent scenes are nothing original in this genre, simply derivative of Bonnie and Clyde or Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the four leads are all very engaging and likable, especially McConaughey and Ethan Hawke. Linklater keeps the audience at a distance with the use of the awkward music and the lack of character depth. In many cases, the supporting cast is simply that rather than an opportunity to reflect the brothers' view of their lives and worldview. Nevertheless, the film is as a whole better than the most recent of its kind. It has an innocent-like quality to it thanks to the fervent belief of Willis Newtown: doing this was simply a way to make money and for that reason there was no reason for them to stop.

The film is very banal. Bank robbers and postal train robbers, déjà vu, blasé, passé. Nothing particularly interesting or exciting. Yet the film has a slight flaw that makes it maybe of some interest. These bank robbers and postal train robbers survived the whole business in 1924, got through the trial with rather light sentences and they most of them died of old age fifty or so years later after giving, for some of them, some TV interviews about that profession of their young age. Then that was not a film but a fictionalized documentary. Shucks! Those who got the heaviest sentences were the few real profiteers who were the real organizers behind those young cowboys who got misled, by their own dream, into getting by force the money they desired to have. But the worst part in all that story is that they got caught on their last venture, the postal train robbery, because one of the gang of brothers shot another member of that brotherly gang because he did not stick to what he was supposed to do, went on the other side of the train and got frightened by someone who did not have the identifying hat they were all supposed to wear. A mistake, another mistake and the whole venture came to a stop, though they apparently did not recuperate all the money, neither the authorities, not the Newton Boys, because the part that was hidden away by one of them was done so under the influence of alcohol, not the money of course, but the Newton Boy who was supposed to bury it and he could never, so he says at least, remember where it was. If you are not afraid of the strong cowboy Texan accent of these boys, you can watch it and entertain yourself with the dream of what you could do with three million 1924 dollars. I guess you would favor buying a new hybrid car to be economical and nice with the planet.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines

What makes "The Newton Boys" so interesting is that it is based on a predominantly true story. Lead by Willis Newton (Matthew McConaughey, a Texan) who had big dreams of drilling for oil in the boom years after WW I, the 4 brothers used explosives to crack open safes all over the USA and Canada and robbed the banks. Willis' rationale, "We're helping to keep insurance companies in business. If there are no bank robberies then there will be no need for insurance." For reasons I don't understand at all, round safes cannot be opened like rectangular safes, so they eventually had to resort to train robbery. They were eventually caught, tried, and convicted. After serving a little time (max. 5 years) most of them retired to Uvalde, Texas, a small town west of San Antonio and in the "texas Hill Country" so popular with motorcyclists. Most of them lived long lives and died in Uvalde.Julianna Margolies was excellent as Willis' love interest. They eveidently stayed together into old age, even though they never married.Pretty good film.