The Newton Boys, a movie set in the 1920's, is a movie about the Newton boys who were the most successful bank robbers in history. It gives a narrative of their lives and what they went through. This true life story is a must see for any Matthew McConaugh fan. I loved it!

I thoroughly enjoyed "The Newton Boys" for its enjoyable portrayal of a little-known piece of American history. I might say that the plot was a bit unbelievable, if not for the fact that it's a true story; the Newton Boys robbed over 80 banks in the 1920s, never killed anyone, and successfully eluded capture for years. If you're looking for a well-constructed and entertaining adventure with a touch of romance, this is definitely your cup of tea. Matthew McConaughey fans should definitely see this one; Dwight Yoakam's portrayal of a nervous explosives expert was a blast, pardon the pun. Make sure you stick around for the credits, where there are clips from two of the real-life Newtons.

You feel at every moment of "The Newton Boys" that you are watching a 20's film made by a 90's filmmaker and cast. The reason? A bunch of good looking young actors in the roles of the world's most successful bank robbers? The stuptifying antics of some of the bankrobbing scenes? Hell, the Panavision frame? Many things are wrong in "The Newton Boys", a film that looks too new to believe that it is old. I just kept feeling we were watching a 1998 adventure in the countryside.

As I said, "The Newton Boys" is about the antics surrounding the four most profitable bank robbers the world has ever seen. We have the leader (Matthew McConaughey), the one who concots the entire plan, the testy, not-so-sure about it brother (Johnny Depp, whoops, I meant Skeet Ulrich), the cowboy brother (Ethan Hawke) and the violent brother (Vincent D'Onfrio). Too bad the film didn't bother to make any "character" out of the characters. We never really know these people. All we know is they are "little theives stealing from the big theives". (The big theives are the insurance company.) The film shows the boys together after a few years of successful bank robbing, with the use of Nitroglycerine, helped by an outsider (Dwight Yokam).

The film really pumps up when they attempt a daylight robbery of bags of cash being carried out of a reserve; you can feel the tension mounting and the action winning the scene over. But the movie collapses flat on its face after that, with a disastarous train robbery, with the D'Onfrio character getting killed (which goes strongly against their "no killing, no women, no children" policy) and the capture of the brothers. The movie is dead at this point.

I didn't really care for most of "The Newton Boys". Sure, there were some funny moments, some good action scenes, plus the great inclusion of a Johnny Carson show where one of the brothers appears during the end credits, but the whole movie is flat, unconvincing and tiring.

Grade: C-

Tech Review:

Picture: 4 A good looking picture with fine colors, black is ok, contrast is about medium. The picture needed to be cleaned up.

Sound: 4 The film is only mixed in Dolby Digital, the sound is fine, but the DD only soundtrack makes no sense. 20th Century Fox is about the last company on earth that is picky in their use of digital formats for each film. For instance, Independence Day had DD, dts and SDDS, Alien 4 had DD and dts only. MAKE UP YOUR MIND!! Be like Universal and Warner and simply release all your movies in all three digital formats, so the theater can choose. Because of their pickiness I had to watch the film in plain Dolby.

Photography: 4 Great Panavision frame, I am just concerned about the use of close ups and everything, it takes away from the 20's feel.

122 minutes. jwhyte2@hotmail.com. ICQ#4339199

\"The Newton Boys,\" is based on a hold up gang in the 1930\'s that rob banks and trains, as long as nobody gets killed. I recalled seeing the only survivor appearing on the tonight show with Johnny Carson. I rather hearing him talk rather than seeing a boring tale of the gang. It\'s not a bad movie, it should be shown on cable, not on the big screen.