featheredsun

Some folks are prepared to shed blood.

This film takes a sober look at this fact.

Set in and around Texas in 1934, The action takes us into the furor of the hunt for Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow at the end of their murderous romance of crime and celebrity. Two ex-lawmen...Texas Rangers...Frank Hamer (Kevin Costner) and B.M. "Maney" Gault (Woody Harrelson) are called out of their retirement to hunt down the infamous couple to put an end to their criminal sprees and the folk legends they had cultivated.

As the plot progresses, we see a panorama of lives gone wrong - the old yarn of country outlaws, always one step ahead of the hounds of Justice, but the film shows this from a different angle and takes care to portray the crushing, pervasive poverty that allows this sort of yarn, and the skeins of bloody death it leaves behind. While it's doubtless the pair had their own disfigured kind of romance, and that may be worth it's own view, this film focuses on the endless running, the hunted and haunted nature of pursuit, and the inevitable broken and mangled end.

It's this grimness that sets apart this film. No glorification in the gunnery and gore - this story reminds us at every turn that real human lives are ending at every step.

The significant insight of this film is that sometimes society will call for the hunters of monsters. And these hunters have their own savage wisdom. The Rangers were once disbanded because they became almost as feared as the ones they hunted. But it's that savage wisdom that made society call for them again when their methods were needed.

Gault and Hamer were not hired to catch Bonnie and Clyde. They were hired to put them down. Costner and Harrelson perfectly portray these men who can sense their own savage nature, who are intimately familiar with it, yet who do not revel in it - men who want only in the end to use it for some greater good - to hunt these monsters, to buy a little more peace overall. They see the bloody bargain and know what they must do...and how serious it is.

Frankly, we can debate that premise in real life. But in the context of this story, it is a very solid sociological context, and worthy of all the exploration this film gives it. I think that's what struck me - the solemnity and sadness with which this struggle is portrayed.

Even in victory, the pair are simply glad to be done...glad the bloodshed is over once again. They want no more glory than a simple acknowledgement of doing a difficult and necessary job.

So this is definitely worth a viewing if you like a more thoughtful version of the old-timey gangster story. And the elements of the film were all quite good. The setting was well captured by wonderful set production really capturing the period. The film's angles and character framing was well shot, as well as some very interesting cinematography during the pursuit scenes. And the acting was very well done. Harrelson was haunting and vulnerable even while being very charming, and Costner...damn...Costner was stone cold in this role - very gritty and hard as a coffin nail.

And it's this last part that makes me very ANGRY with Netflix for framing this as some kind of smarmy buddy cop vehicle, like Grumpy Old Men meets Lethal Weapon, with some Texas twang sprinkled on top. The teaser actually made me NOT want to see it because I thought it'd be nothing but two old geezers trading stale humor. I'm glad the premise on its own sounded interesting enough for me to give it a try.

CONS Some of the acting is terrible. Some of the earlier fight action is clunky. There's a bit of drift where the comedy meets the drama. Hitler survives.

PROS Deadpool and Ryan Reynolds are just charming as f---. There's some really great fight action in the later part of the film. The movie is unafraid to make some pretty amazing comedy moments. The J word.

So, maybe it's not as fresh as the first one was, but it's still got an adventurous spirit, and there's a good bit of thought put into both the comedy and the drama - enough to make both work, together and independently.

Definitely worth seeing.

I haven't posted a review in some time, but I had to come back to imdb just to share how great this movie is.

Imagine an old shining guitar almost buried in bright golden marigold petals. That is this story, deeply surrounded by the rich culture of Mexico, it's Dia de Muertos, and the traditions of remembering our families throughout our lives and generations.

Another reviewer said that "you can't trust anyone who did not get emotional over this movie", and while I won't go that far, I can't see how anyone could not be moved by this story with it's beautiful arcs of familial love, loss, pride, rebellion, hope, and despair. Personally, I wept at the climactic close - a universal rush of gut-wrenching sadness and joy - extremely powerful and meaningful.

See this with your family and cry together and feel love together at this magnificent art.