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Rating: 4.5 out of 5
If you ever think about famous couples who committed crimes in their lives, the two who come up are Bonnie and Clyde. Their names are almost synonymous with being an outlaw couple. They have been the subject of films, songs, and T.V. shows throughout the year. They were known for their bank robberies even though they weren’t that good at it. Their murder spree is believed to have killed nine police officers and four civilians throughout the Central United States. They were the stars of their time before they met their untimely death from a police ambush.
“Bonnie and Clyde” is one of those films that glamorized the couple and their spree. It is a film that many gangster lovers will like even though the couple was really gangsters. The film is one that not only heightens the popularity of the famous couple but also gives a small peek into their young lives and the thrill they seek.
Fresh out of prison, Clyde Barrow is one smooth man and dressed to the nines. Bonnie Parker is a beautiful young waitress who is bored with her job. The two meet when Clyde tries to steal Bonnie’s mother’s car and is intrigued by his criminal lifestyle. Wanting to see what Clyde was all about asks him to rob a place, which he does. Falling for the man, the two become partners and do hold-ups that are exciting but not at all lucrative.
The duo’s crime spree goes to the next level when they meet and recruit small-minded gas station attendant, C.W. Moss. After robbing a bank and barely getting away because C.W. decides to parallel park the getaway car, the crew expands and are joined by Clyde’s brother, Buck, and his wife, Blanche, a preacher’s daughter. They take pictures of themselves to remember the moment with the famous Bonnie picture on the car. The original news influencers go on a spree like no other until they are stopped.
Director Arthur Penn presents and gives direction to a film that almost glorifies the lives of the pair. He shows the couple as two people who seemed to love robberies and took other people’s lives without little regard for anyone else. The sense that I got from the film was that it was fun to be a bank robber. That the violence might be high, but if you think you are helping everyone else, what is the big deal? As I said, the couple was the original influencers of their time in film and the papers.
Now the film was very entertaining. I mean, when it came to C.W., you just wanted to shake your head because he did stupid stuff. Like who parks a car when you are robbing a bank? That makes absolutely NO sense. Also, at the beginning, who goes into a bank that has no money? What happened to scoping out a place before robbing it? That was a rookie mistake right there. The drama within the crew was pretty high also. First, the whole thing when Clyde said he wasn’t a lover and couldn’t get it on with Bonnie. Then Bonnie and Blanche really didn’t like each other, which caused some significant tension.
Now the violence is pretty high as when we see people get shot, they get shot. It’s not just a simple gunshot, and they fall to the ground and die. They straight up, get filled with bullet holes to the max degree. The final scene shows this really well as both main characters are shot up with straight hot lead. When they say they looked like swiss cheese, they meant it.
The cinematography is also well done in this film. You sometimes feel like you have a close-up view of the characters and what they are doing. This is expertly done when the pair is driving in their car or trying to escape the officers. Two scenes definitely showed this. The first is when the crew is surrounded, and you just see the gang’s car drive in a circle as they are shot at. It gave you a feeling of no escape for the gang. The second scene is the final scene of the whole film and the death of Bonnie and Clyde. You see the sparrows fly, and then Moss jump under his truck. When Bonnie and Clyde realize what is going on, the camera goes back and forth between the two and the bushes before they are shot.
The performances of every person are phenomenal. Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway truly brought to life the two criminals on the screen. Beatty was that charming, cool, smiling Clyde, while Dunaway was beyond beautiful. Dunaway’s beauty was top notch.
Michael J. Pollard, as C.W. Moss, the driver, and mechanic for the gang, was the one that seemed out of place but also in place with the misfits. Even though he wasn’t as bright as the rest, he seemed to find a real home with the crew. Gene Hackman and Estelle Parsons play Buck and Blanche Barrow, the other members of the gang. Hackman was Hackman as he brought significant energy to the role. When he firsts arrived to reunite with Clyde, he is loud, howls, and jumps around. Parsons is also great as she seems like the now typical girl who screams loudly at danger, yells at everyone else, and loves her darling husband dearly. Somehow, she won the Academy Award for her role.
Here is a fact that you might not know about this film. Gene Wilder is in the movie in his very first role. Yep, Mr. Willy Wonka himself is in this film. He has like three lines, but I couldn’t believe that he was in this film. Everyone needs to start somewhere.
Bonnie and Clyde is an excellent film that is entertaining, violent, and full of some laughs. Even though Bonnie and Clyde’s status and appeal have fallen off since the years, they are still a fixture in American lore. The acting is terrific as each actor and actress do their role to almost award-winning appeal. Watch this movie and learn about some of America’s biggest public enemies ever.
