THE HIGHWAYMEN
Kevin Costner & Woody Harrelson Take Down Bonnie & Clyde
If you have ever wanted to see Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson in a buddy-cop movie together (We’re not shaming any fantasies here. We also think about it.), then Netflix has you covered. The Highwaymen, in which the two actors take on Bonnie and Clyde, premieres on the streaming service Friday.
We’ve seen Bonnie and Clyde’s side of the story, but now it’s time to see the Texas Rangers who brought them down. Costner plays Frank Hamer, who was given the go-ahead from then Governor Ma Ferguson (played by the one and only Kathy Bates). Harrelson takes on the role of Maney Gault, who helped Hamer in the investigation.
The film will lead up to the deaths of Bonnie and Clyde, but it takes out the sex appeal from the 1967 Bonnie and Clyde and focuses more on human nature’s violent tendencies.
“Bonnie and Clyde magnified the mystique of ’30s bank robbers by refracting it through the lens of counterculture revolt,” A.O. Scott writes in his review for The New York Times. “This movie opposes that one with every fiber of its ornery being, including by its insistence on procedural tedium over cinematic excitement. It’s no less violent than Bonnie and Clyde, but it’s in a much worse mood.”
Harrelson will obviously provide the comic relief, as he does in so many detective movies, but Costner will be the gruff, get-it-done archetype we are used to. The different side to a popular story will surely bring Netflix subscribers to the platform.
The Highwaymen premieres on Netflix on March 29.
