His second role in a Richard Linklater film may not be as well remembered (or quoted) as his first, but McConaughey's follow up to Dazed and Confused gives him a lot more to work with. Taking the lead in this based-on-true story, McConaughey's Willis Newton ropes his brothers (Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio and Skeet Ulrich) into thinking a little bigger than the small-town country life they're used to. The life of the bank robber awaits them. Where Hawke is hampered by a dodgy fake moustache and Ulrich by being Skeet Ulrich in something other than Scream, McConaughey strikes the perfect balance he never managed in the like of The Wedding Planner. Instead of being simply smarmy and self-satisfied and some sort therefore a romantic lead, the confidence and easy charm he imbues the character with makes it easy to believe he was such a successful criminal - and so adept at getting out of sticky situations. "You don't look like any criminal I've ever seen," a character tells McConaughey's Willis Newton at one point. And they've got a point. His character, and the film as a whole, has a lot more charm and humour than recent films of similar Prohibition-era criminals - like Public Enemies or Lawless - and McConaughey in particular makes his character feel like a real person rather than simply an impeachable historical figure, especially as his best laid plans begin to go awry.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
