The Newton Boys (1998)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Richard Linklater

Writers (WGA):

Claude Stanush (book)
Richard Linklater (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

27 March 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | History | Western

Tagline:

History is about to catch up with America's most successful bank robbers.

Plot:

Four Newton brothers are a poor farmer family in the 1920s. The oldest of them, Willis, one day realizes...

Plot Keywords:

Train | 1920s | Bank Robber | Courtroom | Ragtime

Cast

Matthew McConaughey	...	Willis Newton
Skeet Ulrich	...	Joe Newton
Ethan Hawke	...	Jess Newton
Gail Cronauer	...	Ma Newton
Vincent D'Onofrio	...	Dock Newton
Jena Karam	...	Orphan Singer
Julianna Margulies	...	Louise Brown
Casey McAuliffe	...	Orphan Singer
Dwight Yoakam	...	Brentwood Glasscock
Charles Gunning	...	Slim
Regina Mae Matthews	...	Orphan Fiddler
Becket Gremmels	...	Lewis
Lew Temple	...	Waiter
Glynn Williams	...	Farmer Williams
Charles 'Chip' Bray	...	Bank Teller

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence including bloody aftermath of a shooting, and for language.

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:16 | South Korea:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Mexico:B | Netherlands:12 (video premiere) | Singapore:PG | UK:15 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

In the movie, the Texas Ranger who arrests Jess Newton is Frank Hamer. The real Frank Hamer planned and participated in the ambush of Bonnie and Clyde.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Brentwood and Joe watch Erich von Stroheim's Greed (1924), in Canada, during what appears to be summer. Greed was not released until December of that year, and didn't see any wide release until late January of 1925. It's also doubtful that it would have made it to Canada any time before then.

Quotes:

Jess Newton: This is a hell of a way to make a livin' ain't it?

Movie Connections:

References Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

Soundtrack:

Barrelhouse Drag

Linklater is a genius

How Richard Linklater made this film on such a small budget is a miracle in itself; the casting was inspired; but the inclusion of the clips of the real Newtons was pure genius. I read Richard's script a year or so before the film went into production, and I felt that this movie simply had to be made... I was right. With a little advertising money from the distributor, the film could (and SHOULD) have been a blockbuster. This is the film that defines the Texas film industry, and as a Texan, I'm proud of Linklater's effort.