‘Bonnie and Clyde’ often lost in time
“Bonnie and Clyde” (9 p.m. Sunday and Monday, A&E, Lifetime and History, TV-14) is a very big deal. Too bad it’s merely a pretty — and seriously flawed — miniseries. The third major broadcast ( after “Mob City” and “The Sound of Music Live!”) to debut during an eventful week of television, “Bonnie and Clyde” is unique in that it’s airing on three affiliated networks at the same time.
As with the two other shows, this seems to be as much about when you watch and how you watch as what you watch.
Of course, “Bonnie and Clyde” operates under the burden of bearing the title of one of the most iconic and important movies of the 20th century. There simply is no comparison.
Most everything about the 1967 original was blunt and to the point. The film’s most memorable quote, “We rob banks,” consists of three words. The film was marketed with a shocking rat- a- tat- tat tag line: “They’re young. They’re in love. And they kill people.”
In contrast to that declarative assault, this miniseries is long on meditation, exposition and atmosphere. We dwell at painful lengths on the backstory of two legendary outlaws (played by Emile Hirsch, “Speed Racer,” and Holliday Grainger, “The Borgias”). Who knew Clyde had been to prison and even got raped in the shower? We linger on the motivations of reporter P.J. Lane (Elizabeth Reaser), who helped keep their story in print. We endure Bonnie’s first marriage and her dreams of Hollywood. We’re even shown a gauzy fantasy dance number in which she becomes the ballerina figurine on her nightstand.
In a famous quote, cited here before, Alfred Hitchcock once described movies as being just like real life, but “with the boring bits cut out.” The makers of this miniseries went out of their way to stuff the boring bits back in — and present them in slow motion.
Much is made of young Clyde Barrow’s penchant for prophecy, a gift encouraged by his grandmother. At the same time, the film begins with Bonnie and Clyde’s bloody downfall and is narrated by Clyde, apparently from the beyond. So its story consists of flash forwards within an extended flashback.
Not unlike TNT’s “Mob City,” this is a very good-looking production and features some fine performances, particularly from Holly Hunter as Bonnie’s mother and William Hurt as retired Texas Ranger Frank Hamer, the man who would hunt them down. But you knew that. And so does Clyde — because he’s looking forward and backward at the same time!
It’s interesting to note that we’ve seen remakes of “The Sound of Music” and “Bonnie and Clyde” within days of each other. The original movies were major milestones during a convulsive period of film history. “The Sound of Music” was the last blockbuster musical hit of the old studio system. “Bonnie and Clyde” helped destroy that system, altering the ways films were produced and audaciously challenging the old Hollywood code.
In contrast, this miniseries will probably be remembered for its cross-platform, three-network broadcast. And it has something for each outlet. For Lifetime, Bonnie is depicted as a feminist heroine and a clotheshorse to boot. The backwoods setting fits right into A&E’s “Duck Dynasty” wheelhouse. And for the History Channel, Clyde’s superstitions and the use of the past as a kind of nostalgic wallpaper are a nice way to look at the vintage clothes and cars they might appraise on “American Pickers.” And, in fact, that’s just what they do on a special “American Pickers” episode ( 8 p. m. Sunday, History, TV- PG), featuring “Bonnie, Clyde and The King.”