Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

Written by David Newman & Robert Benton

Directed by Arthur Penn

1998 List Ranking: 27

2007 List Ranking: 42

Like many of the famous stories, characters, or real-life people we all seem to know, I don’t recall when I first heard of Bonnie and Clyde. Perhaps it was when I was staying at Stateline between California and Nevada; one the of hotels there (maybe even the one we were staying at) had their (SPOILER ALERT) bullet-riddled car in which they died (which I never saw). I suppose I’ve read about them over the years, but I really couldn’t tell you more than they were criminals who outran the law for a short period of time. Strangely, I was interested to see this film, because I expected it to be a suspenseful cat-and-mouse. It definitely has some elements of that (and those are the moments that work best), but the film overall is sometimes more hit and miss.

Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty

When Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway), a restless girl from…somewhere in the south states (seriously, the states in this film are all interchangeable) meets Clyde Barrow (Warren Beatty), she becomes instantly attracted to both him and the thrill of the crimes that he commits, mostly robbery. She joins him and soon is just as culpable in his crimes as he is, even when those crimes escalate to murder (although, I should point out that they never kill someone just to kill them; it’s always as part of a robbery gone wrong or someone trying to catch them. I mean, not that that’s any better). They’re joined by a few others (most notably, Gene Hackman as Clyde’s older brother Buck), but their luck begins to change, slowly tightening the noose around them until they’re ambushed on the side of the road.

Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty…again

Beatty’s performance is probably the best of everyone’s, although that isn’t really saying a whole lot. He rants and rages well, and there is some depth to him as he is portrayed as impotent (initially, Clyde was to be portrayed as bisexual, but for a variety of reasons (allegedly including Beatty’s lack of comfort with playing that sexuality), it was altered). However, there isn’t really an arc for him or any of the other characters. He never seems to grow deeply paranoid or desperate as the law closes in (as one might have expected); he is essentially the same person at both ends of the film. Dunaway does at least get a LITTLE bit of depth and an arc: after prolonged exposure to crime, she asks Clyde what he’d do if he could do it all over again; when his answer is better crimes, it is obvious that she wishes that their lifestyle could change, to be respectable and law-abiding citizens. Finally, Gene Hackman acts like…Gene Hackman: he’s not bad, but he’s also just Gene Hackman in every Gene Hackman role ever.

(Also, this film marks Gene Wilder’s screen debut!)

Yay crime!

The style of the film is probably its best quality: the thrill and the romance of the crime is alluring, leading the audience on a fun romp with the occasional wrinkle before spiraling into extreme (for the time) violence. The film begins by showing the sheer abandon (primarily through Bonnie) of embracing a life of crime, and the film’s upbeat pacing and twangy banjo beckon the audience to root for Bonnie and Clyde, laughing along with them as they rob banks: after all, who are they physically hurting? Once people start dying, however, the film slowly begins turning: that fun turns to horror and shock by the final sequence, which features one of the most graphic sequences of death to be put on film for the time. I do wish that Bonnie’s eventual yearning for a good honest life, or essentially how the shine has lost its luster, was explored further: done in the right way, it would have made her death much more tragic.

The biggest flaw of the film is probably its pacing: mostly, everything in the film is just rushed. Within LITERALLY five minutes of meeting her, Clyde tells Bonnie that she’s better than the life she’s living now (which, again, YOU’VE KNOWN HER FOR ALL OF FIVE MINUTES), and suddenly she’s off in a stolen car with him, laughing as he outruns police and desperately trying to have his children. Like, all of this in a real-time-within-the-film of maybe an hour? I get that there’s a few years that need to be compressed into two hours, but good lord, y’all just need to calm down and BREATHE for a moment.

The Barrow Gang

A couple other minor irritants: there is a wholly unnecessary subplot about visiting Bonnie’s family in which her whole family is just…okay with what she’s been doing? Like, nobody called the police? Her mother does guilt her a little bit, but everyone else is like “Good job, ya murderin’ thief!”. It’s noticeable to the point of distraction. Also, I was initially more annoyed with the ending, which pulls a Sopranos and cuts to black right after the two are killed, but I later realized that since the film begins at the moment Bonnie and Clyde begin their partnership, it should end the moment that IT ends, in their deaths.

Perhaps the best thing about this film is that, because of it, 51 years later we got Dunaway and Beatty accidentally crowning the wrong Best Picture recipient at the Academy Awards (have I mentioned how thrilled I am that Moonlight beat La La Land? BECAUSE I REALLY HATE LA LA LAND). This film isn’t as bad as it could have been, but I don’t know if it reached the heights I was hoping towards. I have to remember that times evolve, and perhaps this film was making its statement the best it could for the time. I don’t often say that I want to see a remake of something, but a remake of this film, done well, could be very entertaining.

FINAL GRADE: B-