In this latest Netflix offering, a paunchy Kevin Costner and a grizzled Woody Harrelson (the latter after a previous investigative two-hander in True Detective) play a couple of reinstated Texas Rangers at first doubtful as to their effectiveness away from their heyday, brought to hunt down Bonnie & Clyde and end a murderous rampage out of control. Unlike previous tellings of the these events, we see only glimpses of the criminals up until the final shootout, leaving the film concentrating on the changing, and often deprecating, relationship between old lawmen buddies: whether their time on the road, scornful of new developments in police procedures, or in hunting Bonnie & Clyde down. Fortunately the pairing is, as one might expect, a good one, with Costner and Harrelson enjoying a suitably world-weary rapport, renewing respect for each other, which makes any general longeurs incidental. Director John Lee Hancock, whose previous two efforts were Saving Mr Banks and The Founder, builds the period atmosphere and there's a good soundtrack by Thomas Newman. The overall story and its denouement maybe well known (certainly the climactic scenes can't quite escape the shadow of Arthur Penn's seminal work of decades back) but this is a fresh approach, the end result enjoyable.
Review of The Highwaymen
