You watch these movies young and are right there with the infectiousness of the movie. I watch it older, and suddenly I'm a 1950s audience who is taken aback by how gleefully immoral it all is. The novelty of crime as fun is painting a picture of youth itself, and the picture of aging by contrast. The vigor. Beatty's performance is so natural you take for granted he is carrying an entire film with his charisma. The film has a cozy quality to it, almost like a sleepover, and even finds time for vignettes like the Gene Wilder bits. Or these unforgettable characters like CW's dad, a Hackman performance so good that you go, oh yeah, he's an actor and not actually that person. I also adored The Sugarland Express which is almost a remark on this movie, taking it into the 70s loser rebellion, there is something to be said with the suits and hats and tommy guns here, the charisma and class, and the total lack of glamor to those Sugarland characters. I found both Bonnie and Clyde, and Sugarland to be tremendous films. The point of these movies is the audacity that may be lost on people. They are two films simultaneously, you have to watch the movie, as well as watch your own reaction to it.
Review of Bonnie and Clyde
