The Newton Boys
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: March 27, 1998 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
57
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
14
Negative:
0
Watch Now
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Not to be hyperbolic, but Richard Linklater's first big-budget movie may be the Jules and Jim of bank-robber movies, thanks to its astonishing handling of period detail and its gentleness of spirit, both buoyed by a gliding lightness of touch. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
What The Newton Boys lacks in dramatic definition, it more than compensates for with its underlying intelligence and visual luster. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
A fast-paced, entertaining motion picture that replaces gritty tension with a lightly-dramatic character interaction that occasionally borders on straight comedy. Read full review
70
Film ThreatVictor Minjares
Linklater reaches for the sky with this film, but the result is mixed. Read full review
70
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
If Mr. Linklater is not entirely at ease with action sequences (or with the obligatory having-fun montage once the brothers become successful), he still makes this (after ''Before Sunrise'' and ''Suburbia'') another admirable directorial stretch. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
The Newton Boys is Linklater's most conventional film and, despite its numerous flaws, it's not bad. Read full review
60
VarietyEmanuel Levy
An extremely handsome production that meticulously evokes the 1920s, and a likable male-dominated cast, headed by Matthew McConaughey in his best screen performance to date, only partially compensate for a story that's too diffuse and lacks a discernible point of view that would make it dramatically engaging. Read full review
60
Washington PostDesson Thomson
There are no dramatic peaks and valleys in this story line, just a uniform, dramatic flatness. Read full review
60
Dallas ObserverPeter Rainer
Some directors can profit from the strictures of a strong narrative, but, for Linklater, the conventionality of The Newton Boys works against the glide of his free-floating style. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineSandra Contreras
Inoffensive and designed to cater to some sort of middle-of-the-road constituency (it's not entirely clear who wants period gangster Westerns to be jolly instead of dark), this film is a huge leap forward for director and cowriter Richard Linklater, and he tackles the genre conventions and period set pieces with eminent grace. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The film chronicles their criminal career in a low-key, meandering way; we're hanging out with them more than we're being told a story. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
On the flimsy wings of this familiar fairy tale, Linklater tries to fly himself a movie, dressing up the quartet (and the strapping he-men cast to portray them) in the audience-friendly vestments of picaresque charm. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyManohla Dargis
In his true-life film about four brothers who robbed banks out West during the late teens and early '20s, Richard Linklater seems to achieve the impossible: He makes Ethan Hawke bearable. Read full review
50
SalonLaura Miller
You have seen this movie before, every morsel of it. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Stack
Director Richard Linklater ("Dazed and Confused") should have taken a cue from the music -- the film needs a lot more snap. Read full review
50
San Francisco ExaminerWalter Addiego
Linklater has less success telling a story; time passes amiably, but the film has no center. Read full review
50
Washington PostStephen Hunter
It trickles and moseys about on its old good time, punctuated by guffaws and thigh-slapping and the occasional eyeball-blasting jolt from the white lightning, but never really manages to achieve the formal status of "story." Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The plot is familiar from decades of earlier bank-robbing sagas - the classic "Bonnie and Clyde" seems to have been a particular inspiration for its overall tone - and neither the action nor the dialogue rings meaningful changes on the genre. Read full review
50
The New YorkerSarah Kerr
The characters never take hold, and the result feels eerily hollow, like a series of charming improvisational bloopers. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Scored to a disarmingly quaint array of fiddle-and-banjo tunes, The Newton Boys has so little in the way of blood or rancor that before long, you begin to notice that there's no real drama in it, either. Read full review
More From This Movie

57 Critic Reviews

7.0 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 71 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL