Minus the last 40 seconds or so (and the occasional screeching from Estelle Parsons), Arthur Penn’s classic version of Bonnie And Clyde makes bank-robbing out to be some of the most fun one can have during a Depression. But of course, for all its at-the-time controversial taboo-breaking, Penn’s Bonnie And Clyde is a thoroughly romanticized version of the famous outlaws’ story, meaning it’s perfect fodder for this era of the “gritty remake”—hence the forthcoming new version from Limitless director Neil Burger and Up In The Air screenwriter Sheldon Turner, who are using as their basis Jeff Guinn’s Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story Of Bonnie And Clyde.
So what’s left to be told, truly? How about Bonnie’s early life as a teenage prostitute, or Clyde’s repeated sexual abuse in prison, two background elements understandably omitted for 1967 audiences, yet which are tailor-made for we dead souls of the 21st-century society? And of course, the new Bonnie And Clyde will stick to the fact that the outlaws were only in their early 20s when they died, meaning the parts are wide open for younger actors. Although, as we learned during 2009’s Hilary Duff debacle, the mere suggestion of anyone playing a new Bonnie Parker is enough to inspire angry cawing from Faye Dunaway’s roost, so all of Dunaway’s man-servants are advised to be extra cautious and hide the good porcelain today.