Using newly-discovered evidence - most notably the diary of Blanche Barrow, one of the members of Bonnie and Clyde's gang - this documentary sheds new light on the careers of two celebrated gangsters. We learn that Clyde Barrow was probably sexually assaulted while in prison in 1930; this experience proved so traumatic for him that he vowed to kill as many law enforcement officers as he could. He was an astute person who took advantage of several loopholes in America's policing system. At that time the police's jurisdiction was restricted by state lines; they were often poorly equipped with firearms. Through astute driving - of the latest Ford models - and by using the latest army-issue weapons (purloined from various facilities), Barrow was not only able to elude the police but could invariably out-shoot them in a fight. The only snag was that he had nowhere to go; together with his gang he roamed the country in his Ford car, sleeping very little due to the fear of being caught. After a two-year reign of terror, both he and Bonnie were killed in a final shoot-out. Chris Wilson's documentary makes much of the fact that it draws upon new evidence; the commentary repeats the idea over and over. Some of the readings from Blanche's diary are certainly interesting, even though the actor's Texan accent is execrable. But what the documentary doesn't say is how Bonnie and Clyde simply took advantage of America's gun-culture - something that persists to this day. When we hear Don Raspante, a gun-collector, describing with obvious relish the type of weapons that Bonnie and Clyde used, we realize that he is precisely the same type of person who, given the right circumstances, would embark on a similar reign of notoriety/ celebrity as the two celebrated gangsters, seven decades previously.
