A hundred years from now Hollywood will still be telling stories of Bonnie & Clyde. The crime duo and young lovers captured the hearts and minds of an entire generation, and the landmark 1967 movie changed the way love and violence were depicted on the big screen. But a new take on the material is on the way, as John Lee Hancock’s The Highwaymen will turn its attention to the law enforcement who ultimately ended their crime spree.
In the works since 2005, the film was originally going to start the legendary duo of Robert Redford and Paul Newman, which would’ve been amazing. Years later, we have to settle for Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson as Texas Ranger Frank Hamer and his partner Maney Gault, who were tasked with bringing Bonnie & Clyde down. Actually, the combination of Costner and Harrelson is pretty great, too. The script is by John Fusco, who has let his southern pride fly penning films such as Young Guns, Hidalgo, and one of my personal favorites, Crossroads.
Here’s the synopsis: “The Highwaymen” follows Texas Ranger Frank Hamer and ex-partner Maney Gault. The lawmen were out of the Rangers by the time Bonnie & Clyde started their robbery reign, but were commissioned as special investigators, coaxed 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 hits Netflix on March 29th.
