Summary

• The true story of The Highwaymen stays relatively historically accurate, with some creative liberties taken.
• The film focuses on the real-life lawmen Frank Hamer and Maney Gault, rather than Bonnie and Clyde.
• The film's depiction of the prison break and the final shootout between the lawmen and the outlaws is accurate to the real events.

The true story of The Highwaymen — Netflix's 2019 crime thriller focusing on a pair of Texas rangers tasked with hunting down Bonnie and Clyde — is relatively historically accurate, though it does take some creative liberties. The Highwaymen is the true story of Frank Hamer (Kevin Costner) and Maney Gault (Woody Harrelson), the two Texas Rangers who hunted down and killed the notorious outlaws in the 1930s. Bonnie and Clyde only appeared briefly in The Highwaymen, with the Netflix movie instead focusing almost entirely on real-life lawmen played by Costner and Harrelson.

Both Frank Hamer and Maney Gaut were real people, and they were responsible for taking down the real Bonnie and Clyde just like The Highwaymen portrayed. Bonnie and Clyde are two of America's most infamous criminals, and the race to apprehend them was so mind-blowingly dramatic that The Highwaymen didn't need to stray too far from the true story to create a thrilling narrative. However, like many films based on true events, some liberties were taken. In the end, there were several things Netflix changed about Hamer, Gault, Bonnie, Clyde, and the true story of The Highwaymen.

True: Hamers & Gault's Partnership

The Two Men Worked Together Before The Mission

The true story of The Highwaymen played out like a real-life buddy cop movie. Kevin Costner's Hamer and Woody Harrelson's Gault were two former US Marshals called back into action to stop Bonnie and Clyde. The former relationship between the two law enforcement officials helps them establish an easy rapport as they set out on Bonnie and Clyde's trail.

While The Highwaymen takes a few liberties with the timing of their partnership, Hamer and Gault did indeed know and work together before this case. And like in the film, Hamer personally chose Gault to be his partner on the manhunt.

False: Gault's Hardships

Gault Was Still An Active Officer When Recruited

When Gault shows up early in The Highwaymen, he is a hard-drinking man down on his luck. He lives with his daughter and grandson, struggling to contribute to the impoverished household. The mission to hunt down Bonnie and Clyde gives him renewed purpose, but the question remains about whether Gault is too broken from his violent past. The real-life Gault was nowhere near this sort of sad state when Hamer recruited him. The real Gault never really left law enforcement as he was working steadily as a highway patrol officer prior to joining the hunt for Bonnie and Clyde.

True: The Prison Break

Bonnie & Clyde Really Broke Their Gang Out Of Prison

The Highwaymen opens with a daring prison escape orchestrated by Bonnie and Clyde (played in cameo appearances by Emily Brobst and Edward Bossert), allowing several crew members to escape custody. The breakout left one guard dead and another injured. The embarrassment of the gang's brazen act convinced the state of Texas to kick the manhunt into high gear and hire Hamer to bring them down. The dramatic event is true. It happened in 1934 at Eastham Prison as is depicted in the film. It is also true that this crime directly led to the hiring of Hamer in real life.

False: Run-Ins With Bonnie & Clyde

Hamer & Gault Never Saw Them Until The Final Battle

Throughout The Highwaymen, Hamer and Gault are hot on the heels of the murderous couple who remain just one step ahead of them. However, their paths finally cross by accident, even leading to a car chase between the Rangers and the criminals. In reality, Hamer and Gault saw Bonnie and Clyde for the first time on the day they gunned them down. While the real Hamer and Gault's investigation was effective at staying on the trail, any encounters the duo had with them before their final shootout in The Highwaymen were added for dramatic purposes, including the car chase.

True: Easter Sunday Shooting

Bonnie & Clyde Really Killed Two Police Officers

The first instance when the lawmen witness the aftermath of Bonnie and Clyde's crimes was when they gunned down two patrol officers on Easter Sunday in Grapevine, Texas. The brutal murder helps cement the fact that The Highwaymen is not going to be a flattering look at the infamous couple. Sadly, the shooting really happened, though the film plays around with the facts of the event. The murder was widely circulated in the press in detail but did little to dampen the public’s love of Bonnie and Clyde.

True: Bonnie's Limp

Bonnie Had A Limp From An Auto Accident

In an interesting move, The Highwaymen never reveals a full look at Bonnie and Clyde until the end, offering only glimpses of them throughout the film. However, whenever we see Bonnie, she is shown to have a bad limp said to be from a car accident. This is incredible attention to detail from The Highwaymen, as the limp is historically accurate. The real Bonnie and Clyde had crashed their car at some point and battery acid leaked onto Bonnie's leg, giving her that bad limp for the rest of her remaining days.

False: Bonnie The Killer

Bonnie Possibly Never Really Killed Anyone

The Highwaymen goes to great lengths to demystify any of the romantic notions about Bonnie and Clyde, showing them as cold-blooded and ruthless killers. It specifically focuses on Bonnie’s murderous side, showing her gleefully executing several victims. Bonnie was complicit in all of Clyde Barrow's crimes. However, many scholars refute that she was ever meaningfully involved with them. Despite what the film suggests, there is no evidence tying Bonnie to any murders. Some even suggest it is unlikely she ever even carried a weapon.

False: Wade McNabb’s Death

Wayne McNabb Died Differently In Real Life

In both The Highwaymen, Hamer and Gault attempt to get to Bonnie and Clyde through an associate of theirs. Wade McNabb was left behind in the earlier prison break. McNabb is released from prison to help lead the law to his partners. However, the outlaws get to him first and brutally kill him, causing Gault to question the morality of their mission. McNabb was a real person, but his involvement was drastically changed for the movie.

The first fabrication made by The Highwaymen about McNabb was the prison break. He did spend time in that prison but was not involved with the breakout. When the real McNabb was murdered, it was by another associate and not related to any deals with the lawmen.

True: The Shooting Of Bonnie & Clyde

The Murders Of Bonnie & Clyde Were Accurate In The Highwaymen

While the path that led to it is interesting, the big moment of The Highwaymen is the final shootout. The tense moment comes when the Rangers get an acquaintance of Bonnie and Clyde to wave down their car. Hamer, taking on the risk, steps out on the road and calls for the couple’s surrender. When they reach for their weapons, the lawmen open fire. The brutality is quite accurate to the real deaths of the duo. The Rangers did not take chances. And for more accuracy, the scene was filmed in the location of the real shootout.

True: Aftermath

People Still Desecrated Bonnie & Clyde's Bodies

Once the couple is dead, their bullet-riddled car and bodies are taken into town where they are besieged by a crowd of admirers. Mirroring the earlier scene where people obsess over seeing Bonnie and Clyde in person, they tear at their bloody corpses hoping to get a souvenir. Disturbingly, this is quite accurate to the real story. A mob of people swarmed the scene and tried cutting body parts and clothing for keepsakes. Also, as depicted in The Highwaymen, Hamer and Gault avoided the media surrounding the shooting.