The Newton Boys

The Newton Boys
220px Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Richard Linklater
Produced by	Keith Fletcher John Sloss Clark Lee Walker Claude Stanush
Screenplay by	Clark Lee Walker Richard Linklater
Based on	The Newton Boys by Claude Stanush & David Middleton; State House Press; 1994
Starring	Matthew McConaughey Skeet Ulrich Ethan Hawke Vincent D'Onofrio
Music by	Edward D. Barnes
Cinematography	Peter James
Edited by	Sandra Adair
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release dates	March 28, 1998 (1998-03-28)
Running time	113 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$27 million
Box office	$10,452,012

The Newton Boys is a 1998 American comedy-drama film based on the true story of the Newton Gang, a family of bank robbers from Uvalde, Texas. The film stars Matthew McConaughey, who was actually born in Uvalde, Texas, Skeet Ulrich, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Dwight Yoakam. It was filmed in Austin, Bartlett, New Braunfels, and San Antonio, Texas.

Plot

Due to a miscarriage of justice Willis Newton was in prison. Afterwards he worked on a farm and was in love with the owner's daughter. Their marriage was confounded when her father was informed that Willis had been a convict. Willis returns to his family's land and tells his mother how the farmer offered him to stay as a mere worker. Still upset he craves a chance to escape poverty and goes to town. Willis meets with two criminals named Slim and Glasscock in a western saloon. The proprietor is an Indian chief who got rich when oil was found on his land. Word is the chief would not have even been allowed to enter the saloon as a guest before that. Thus Willis learns that social climbing is possible for him too if only he happens to get to a lot of money. Now he will collect a great deal of money by robbing banks until he can purchase an oil well.

Slim persuades Willis and Glasscock to carry out a bank robbery in broad daylight. Slim is caught when all three of them try to escape on horseback while the sheriff chases them in a car. Willis and Glasscock later find a bank director who buys the looted war bonds and sells them information on plenty of other banks. Henceforth, Willis and Glasscock rob banks at night and get away by car. Glasscock turns out being an expert with nitroglycerin. Willis talks his brothers into supporting him. He tells them that bankers are the worst crooks of all and therefore robbing their money would only mean that little thieves stole from big thieves. He also says all banks were insured anyway and the insurance companies ought to be thankful because they couldn't sell any insurances if there wasn't a bank robbery every now and then.

The Newton Gang is very prolific and some bankers prove to be the crooks Willis takes them for because they exaggerate their losses. Subsequently the insurance companies force banks to invest in enhanced safes. The new safes withstand nitroglycerin. Consequently, the Newton Gang goes to Toronto and ambushes a cash transport in broad daylight. Despite an elaborate plan many things go awry and the gang members can scarcely escape. Willis decides to become "legal". The oil spring Willis purchased is a huge setback that costs him nearly all his money. In his despair he goes as far as telling his wife that God didn't want him to be "legit". After that he is easily lured into another criminal endeavor. He gets very enthusiastic about a train robbery at night. Unfortunately Glasscock is not as good with a gun as he was with nitroglycerin. He confuses Dock Newton with a guard, panics and shoots him. Willis needs to bring his wounded brother to a doctor and this undertaking eventually blows their cover.

All Newton Brothers are finally arrested and sentenced.

Cast

• Matthew McConaughey as Willis Newton
• Skeet Ulrich as Joe Newton
• Ethan Hawke as Jess Newton
• Vincent D'Onofrio as Dock Newton
• Dwight Yoakam as Brentwood Glasscock
• Gail Cronauer as Ma Newton
• Julianna Margulies as Louise Brown
• Lew Temple as Waiter
• Charles Gunning as Slim
• Ken Farmer as Frank Hamer

Reception

It received mixed to positive reviews from critics, with a 62% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 37 reviews.

External links

• Official website
• The Newton Boys at IMDb
• The Newton Boys at the TCM Movie Database
• The Newton Boys at Box Office Mojo
• The Newton Boys at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Newton Boys at Metacritic
• Morgenstern, Joe. March 27, 1998. "Prosperous Escapades Recounted In the Tale of 'The Newton Boys'." The Wall Street Journal