Genre: Action/Comedy
Director: Taika Waititi
Writer: Chad Taylor
Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Elizabeth Olsen, Jesse Plemons, Letitia Wright, Barry Keoghan, J.K. Simmons, David Tennant, Will Poulter, Jennifer Jason Leigh
Plot: [Opening Credits: Hello It's Me - Todd Rundgren]
Miss Bonnie Parker struggles through her shift as a waitress in Depression-era rural America. She comes back home to the house of her mother Emma (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and younger siblings. She goes out to sit on the porch, gazing off in the distance, lamenting her impoverished life.
Title Card: SOMEWHERE NEARBY [Burnin' For You - Blue Oyster Cult]
Clyde Barrow (Michael B. Jordan) is a well-dressed, smooth-talking, small-time robber and bonafide nomad who is constantly on the run. He robs a small store and speeds off in his car with a big ass grin on his face. As he reaches the country, he spots Bonnie sitting on her porch and pulls over. He makes the excuse that he is in the need for a drink of water but he really just wants to get to know her. Amidst his flirtation, Parker becomes smitten with Clyde and takes him up on his offer to go for a ride [Evil Woman - Electric Light Orchestra].
Their high-speed joyride is derailed when Clyde’s car nearly runs out of gas. He is able to make it to a filling station, where the attendant fills it up. Before going inside the store, Clyde shows a pistol he has hidden and tells her to use it if she needs it – utterly confusing her. Inside, Clyde pulls his own gun on the manager and demands the money from the register. Bonnie is startled but is quick to catch on, and pulls the hidden gun on the attendant. When the manager reaches for the phone, Clyde pistol-whips him on the nose and runs back out to the car. Bonnie asks what to do with the attendant but before Clyde can respond, the scared attendant offers his services as a getaway driver. Clyde, realizing how it would help his mission, accepts the offer. The attendant introduces himself as W.D. Jones (Barry Keoghan).
The gang decide to rob a bank, a first for Clyde. After it is successful, they go on a string of bank robberies [After Midnight – Eric Clapton]. In between, Clyde and Bonnie grow closer romantically despite his revelation that he is impotent. After revealing his sexual insecurities, Bonnie takes him outside of their hideout and they slow dance in the moonlight [I Can’t Tell You Why – Eagles]. The next day they meet up with Clyde’s brother Buck (Jesse Plemons) and his wife Blanche (Letitia Wright). Buck has less bravado than his older brother, but is just as willing to drink some whiskey and break some laws. Blanche is very uptight and always nervous but remains loyal to Buck despite his criminal tendencies. The personality differences cause an immediate rift between her and Bonnie.
The gang’s next robbery goes off the rails. While Bonnie and Blanche awkwardly wait at the hideout, Clyde and Buck hone in on their next bank target. After they enter, W.D. is approached by a prostitute who flirts with him. Despite his initial rejection of her advances, he starts to flirt back with her. Meanwhile, Buck and Clyde run out of the bank after pulling off the heist and are in disbelief that the getaway car isn’t there to pick them up. W.D. realizes he has missed his timing and speeds off, leaving the girl in the dust. Because of his late timing, the bank owner is able to get in front of the car with a shotgun in hand. After demanding they get out of the car, he shoots their front end which prompts Clyde to shoot the banker in the head. His first kill. The film follows them for three minutes as they drive away, no one saying word the entire time [Ripple – Grateful Dead].
This grabs the attention of Texas Ranger Frank Hamer (J.K. Simmons). Ted Hinton (Will Poulter), a young intuitive officer under Hamer’s watch, offers his services in tracking the gang. After finding their whereabouts, Hamer tasks his deputy Dale “Little Hands” Kelly (David Tennant) to investigate their whereabouts. Kelly himself is a reformed criminal-turned-policeman (hence his old nickname that has stuck).
Clyde vents to his brother about his feelings about killing a man. At first, the robberies were a power grab against a society that put him down and were admittedly addictive. But he never pictured himself as a killer. Bonnie enters the conversation and tells Clyde that he is now committed to the cause one way or the other. Out of the blue, there is a raid on the compound led by Kelly. Buck is shot and killed instantly, causing Blanche to loudly shriek. The other three are able to escape and leave Blanche behind to be taken into custody. Kelly beats her while she is put under arrest, calling her racial slurs along the way.
W.D. and Bonnie are adamant that they stay low-key and only perform manageable jobs. When it comes time, they will get away to Mexico and live happily together in anonymity. Meanwhile, Clyde is on a warpath to avenge his brother’s death – against the wishes of the others. After obtaining Kelly’s identity, the gang spy on him at his home. They are shocked when he leaves his home with Klan gear.
They trail him to the Ku Klux Klan gathering he is attending. As the gang gather up their weapons, they lose track of Kelly amongst the other white hoods. Each equipped with two weapons, Clyde leads the gang into the gathering guns a-blazin’. They massacre the Klansmen in slow motion [Cold Gin – KISS]. Clyde approaches one man on his knees, pleading for mercy. As he holds his hands up in surrender, Clyde says he must be the one they call Little Hands smirks. Bonnie interrupts him and impales Kelly to the ground with a wooden cross and tells Clyde “There you go, baby.” As he writhes in pain, Clyde lights the cross on fire and walks away smiling.
With this in the news, Hamer is both infuriated that they slipped through his hand and saddened by his deputy’s gruesome death. Hinton is able to pinpoint the gang’s location once again and Hamer is determined to finish the job this time. Meanwhile, realizing they are going to either escape to Mexico or die trying, the gang stops by Bonnie’s home for her to say goodbye to her mother and siblings. On the way to their next hideout, Bonnie comforts Clyde in her arms as he worries they may not make it out of this alive [Miracles – Jefferson Starship]. She re-assures him that they will.
The police strike the new compound at the break of dawn, catching everyone by surprise. W.D. had just awoken from his slumber and is on the toilet when the police break in and he surrenders with his pants down. Bonnie and Clyde make it out the back, hoping that W.D. also escaped. Hamer is infuriated.
Hamer tries to intimidate W.D. for information but to no avail. Hinton suggests to Hamer that they use W.D. as a decoy in exchange for lesser punishment. Although he is very reluctant, W.D.’s gullibility ultimately gives in.
Days later, Bonnie and Clyde are cruising down a country road, enjoying the scenery as they go. They are stunned to find W.D. and his car broken down on the side of the road. When they pull over, they exclaim how happy they are to see that he’s escaped. His non-response (and visible sweat) worries them. [Jessica - The Allman Brothers Band]. In an instant, Hamer, Hinton, and crew emerge from the woods and ambush the couple. Dozens of bullets decimate the pair as they succumb to their gruesome deaths.
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