“Bonnie and Clyde” Review

“Bonnie and Clyde(klīd)” Review

By Roger Ebert

“Bonnie and Clyde” is a milestone(ˈmīlˌstōn) in the history of American movies, a work of truth and brilliance(ˈbrilyəns). It is also pitilessly(ˈpitēlis) cruel(ˈkro͞oəl), filled with sympathy(ˈsimpəTHē), nauseating(ˈnôzēˌātiNG), funny, heartbreaking(ˈhärtˌbrākiNG), and astonishingly(əˈstäniSHiNG) beautiful. If it does not seem that those words should be strung together, perhaps that is because movies do not very often reflect the full range of human life.

The lives in this case belonged, briefly(ˈbrēflē), to Clyde Barrow(ˈbarō) and Bonnie Parker. They were two nobodies who got their pictures in the paper by robbing(räb) banks and killing people. They weren’t very good at the bank robbery(ˈräb(ə)rē) part of it, but they were fairly good at killing people and absolutely first-class at getting their pictures in the paper.

Bonnie was a gum-chewing(gəm CHo͞o) waitress(ˈwātris) and Clyde was a two-bit hood out on parole(pəˈrōl). But from the beginning, they both seemed to have the knack(nak) of entertaining(ˌentərˈtāniNG) people. Bonnie wrote ballads(ˈbaləd) and mailed them in with pictures Clyde took with his Kodak. They seemed to consider themselves public servants(ˈsərvənt), bringing a little sparkle(ˈspärkəl) to the poverty(ˈpävərtē) and despair(diˈspe(ə)r) of the Dust(dəst) Bowl(bōl) during the early Depression(diˈpreSHən) years.

“Good afternoon,” Clyde would say when they walked into a bank. “This is the Barrow(ˈbarō) Gang.” In a way Bonnie and Clyde were pioneers(ˌpīəˈnir), consolidating(kənˈsäləˌdāt) the vein(vān) of violence(ˈvī(ə)ləns) in American history and exploiting it, for the first time in the mass media.

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https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/bonnie-and-clyde-1967