Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

 

A lot of people have heard the names of Bonnie and Clyde, one of those near-mythical crime duos that stalked the US in the early 1930s. It's understandable, seeing as you don't often hear of couples teaming up to rob banks and running a swathe of destruction and murder across the country. This film tries to capture the insanity that was this time and does a fairly good job of it. 

It all seems so logical, the way things went. Bonnie is a bored young girl who is smarter than most people give her credit for, but she also is in desperate need of some action in her life. Then she runs into small time crook Clyde Barrow and they instantly hit it off. Daring one another to up the ante, they soon start robbing banks, although apparently not taking poor people's money. 

Well, they do in fact, as the bank owns most people's money anyway, but somehow they get portrayed as a couple of Robin Hoods. It's a bit weird, but maybe the papers just overdid their status. It happens. 

Soon, Clyde's brother Buck and his wife join the duo, as well as a young mechanic by the name of CW Moss. The heists follow faster and faster and so too does the body count, for it is clear that the Darrow Gang quickly abandons all restraint when it comes to killing police officers. This of course draws in a nationwide manhunt and after a few close calls, the gang starts to falter. Buck is killed, his wife Blanche captured and CW is persuaded to sell out Bonnie and Clyde. 

The pair is then unceremoniously ambushed and gunned down, in what is probably the best known scene of the entire film, for good reason. No one had truly shown such brutality on screen at that time and even today it is still impactful, to say the least. 

This is a high energy film, with snappy editing and a quick pace. Not a lot of time is wasted with any setup: right off the bat, Bonnie meets Clyde and they're off. Their relationship is a bit weird, in that they do seem to care for one another, but they have to have Clyde be sort of impotent most of the time and Bonnie is prone to violent outbursts. Maybe this was accurate for the real life versions, but somehow it feels a little overly romanticised. 

Our main cast does have some fine actors present. Gene Hackman is great as the loudmouth brother Buck, who pretty much overshadows Warren Beatty's Clyde. Clyde comes across as a bit of a loser who just gets roped in and has to have someone to steer his actions. So then you get someone like Faye Dunaway (who clearly is a lot more charismatic) to play the feisty Bonnie. It sort of works, but at times you get the feeling they might have painted their motivations and relationship a bit clearer. 

The story also jumps forward with leaps and bounds, with little attention to the actual crimes and more a few shoot-outs and conflicts. It does make for a bit of a disjointed feel at times and the ending comes a bit out of left field. The film also abruptly ends, as if suddenly cut off. 

In the end, 'Bonnie and Clyde' is a more than decent film, but something about the editing and pacing feels a tad off. It's tough to truly put the finger on, but perhaps 'rushed' is a good term. But if you like films centred around crime, this one is pretty much obligatory.