THE NEWTON BOYS (72)

Directed by: Richard Linklater

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Ethan Hawke, Skeet Ulrich, Dwight Yoakam

The Pitch: The true, 1920s-set story of the Newton brothers, "the most successful bank robbers in the history of the United States".

Theo Sez: Cinematically conventional, but delightfully laid-back - and surprisingly resonant. The retro opening titles, introducing "The Players" in the wipe-and-split-screen manner of early-30s Hollywood, are both a link with the story's period setting and (given Linklater's well-known cinephilia) a nod to other amiable-conman films like THE STING and BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID - though this is actually the exact opposite of SUNDANCE, not a nostalgic lament for superannuated heroes in a modern world but a sly tale of businessmen crooks, moving beyond outdated "Jesse James routines" and introducing professionalism to the bank-robbery business, at least till the banks retaliate in kind. It's actually about that brief, golden window of opportunity between the civilising of America and its (over-) regulation, and more generally about the way a capitalist society orders itself - moving from an anything-goes frontier spirit to a settled age of strong institutions and corporate power, via a brief period when the "big thieves" haven't yet locked the doors against the "little thieves". The film's fun-loving, non-violent Boys aren't particularly good criminals, merely entrepreneurs joining in the free-for-all - getting their information from suitably-rewarded bank clerks, avoiding small-town shakedowns by paying off the jailer, stealing money from banks which happily inflate the figures for insurance purposes. It's a romanticisation of a looser, freer time, a funhouse-mirror-image of a Capra movie - its heroes plucky 'little guys' ("You think you're the only one who's got a raw deal?" "No, but I'm the one who's not gonna lie down and take it!"), its world equally breezy and disarmingly optimistic - only cheerfully cynical rather than idealistic, affectionately remembering rather than looking forward to the American Dream ; there's a generosity of spirit to it that's immensely touching, right down to Hawke's Jess Newton getting a reduced jail sentence in recognition of his "congenial presence in the courtroom". It seems almost superfluous to mention the toe-tapping ragtime score (by the "Bad Livers"!), the marvellously relaxed performances, the low-key plotting, the quirky detail and good-humoured lines ("What's a feller do in Omaha?" "Well ... you can chew gum."). A charmer, and more.