Fucked up people doing fucked up stuff. Boredom, loneliness, and hopelessness can lead one to desperate actions. Only thing I didn’t like is that many scenes seemed silly. But the way it ends… oh boy.

I was so impressed with Warren Beatty in _The Parallax View (1974)_, that I had to go back and catch up on his filmography. Unfortunately, I was not particularly impressed with this film, which is one of his biggest and earliest hits. While some may call it an unfair criticism, my biggest issue with the film was that it shows its age. It is the 1960's version of an action blockbuster, where a significant portion of the screen time is dedicated to extended car chases and shootouts. While those elements may have impressed audiences 50+ years ago, they did very little for me in 2022. It's an unfortunate fact that certain types of films will age more gracefully than others, which is how a more dialogue driven conspiracy thriller like _The Parallax View (1974)_ can blow me away, while this film leaves me bored. One would hope that the saving grace would be the acting. After all, the film had five performances nominated for Oscars, one of which won. However, the acting can only do so much in a film that is largely driven by action. This isn't to say that the performances are bad. There was plenty to praise. In particular, I thought Gene Hackman injected a lot of life into the script once he and Estelle Parsons came into the picture. But it wasn't enough to save the film for me. This is a simple story, and it didn't leave me particularly invested.

Like the cars, like the southern accents, like the insights into the time of the great depression, like Dunaway, like Bonnie, like the drama and the tragedy, like the outlaw/road story, like the sub-machine rifles. Like all the parts discussing sex (problems), marriage, (posthumous) fame and the possibility of returning to (or, in an alternate reality, living) a regular law-obeying life. Outright love the first 10 minutes or so. How bored Bonnie is initially pulled into his criminal and violent orbit is fascinating. Could have been a much better movie w/o all this out of place slapstick scenes, strange car chase scenes (it's not only the age of this movie: I guess it always felt strange) and some of the dumb hillbilly gang members that ultimately contributed to their tragic fate. Still, an influential classic that is entertaining even decades later. PS: if there was ever a single reason attributed to the introduction of ignition locks this grand theft auto spree might just be it. Why were there no car keys and locks?

While there are movies made before this that portend the coming of New Hollywood (I think Seconds is most notable), this movie to me feels like the opening snare of Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone." It cracks like a bullwhip and demands attention. It's a beautiful, lurid, shockingly violent work that also spends time with the humanity of its characters (almost uncomfortably so.) Stellar work all around (except Parsons, who I found supremely irritating...I can't believe she was the only one to win an acting Oscar in the ensemble. My votes would have gone to Dunaway and especially Pollard.)