Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

mraculeated The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Ella-May O'Brien Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Red-Barracuda This is a good example of the kind of movies which were influenced massively by Bonnie and Clyde (1967). That film was one of the key American films that kick-started a golden age of 70's cinema that would later become known as New Hollywood. Little Laura and Big John is hardly one of those films in fairness but it nevertheless is clearly indebted to its famous precursor. It shares its rural southern USA location and its period setting, in this case the 20's. It also is a crime drama biopic about real criminals who were a romanticised male/female couple. More specifically, it's based around the exploits of the Ashley Gang who operated in Florida. Their leader John Ashley was jailed for accidentally killing a man, only to escape and become a bank robber and bootlegger.Despite its real-life basis, its characters aren't very well developed sadly. The main star is Karen Black, who is good enough but her role is a very limited one; the main character is played by Fabian Forte who tries his best but lacks the necessary screen charisma to make his character as interesting as he needs to be. It is odd that this low budget film was made after Karen Black had already rose to considerable prominence off the back off Easy Rider (1969) and Five Easy Pieces (1971), because it has the definite feel of a minor movie and her role is quite under-written; you would have expected her to be involved in a product that better utilised her at this stage in her career. Some have already noted the contemporary 70's musical score which is used in this period set drama sounds a little odd in this context. However, I personally didn't mind this very much even if it was somewhat unusual. The film on the whole is not very good, yet hardly as bad as it's made out to be either. Its story could certainly have been told in a much more engaging fashion but it was still a half-decent period crime flick in my eyes.

Woodyanders The Florida Everglades in the 1920's. Shrewd, handsome John Ashley (a surprisingly solid turn by 50's rock'n'roll teen idol Fabian Forte, who also played Pretty Boy Floyd in Larry Buchanan's "A Bullet for Pretty Boy") and his sweet, flighty steady gal pal Laura (a charming performance by the ever-radiant Karen Black) are the leaders of an outlaw gang. The wild'n'rowdy bunch achieve considerable notoriety by robbing banks, running booze, breaking out of jail, and eluding the cops while embarking on a jolly crime spree in the southeast. Directed with a reasonable amount of flair and style by Luke Moberly and Bob Woodburn (who also wrote the colorful and eventful script), this picture sizes up an an immensely enjoyable little "Bonnie and Clyde" cash-in copy. Fabian and Black make for a rather unlikely, but genuinely appealing and attractive criminal couple. Nice supporting contributions by Ken Miller as lecherous gang member Hanford, Paul Gleason as a hard-nosed sheriff, and Ivy Thayer as Laura's forlorn, regretful mother. Cliff Frates and Evie Karafotias are extremely cute and endearing as John and Laura as little kids in touching flashback sequences. Edmund Gibson's pretty, picturesque cinematography, Bill Walker's jaunty swing band score, the flavorsome period atmosphere (the sepia-tinted black and white opening newsreel with a stern Walter Winchell-like narrator is especially tasty), and several rousing shoot-outs all likewise hit the spot. My sole criticism: the frequent groovy modern rock songs and music are painfully inappropriate and anachronistic. That minor quibble aside, this film overall rates as a tremendously fun and spirited romp.

jgpony "Little Laura and Big John" was not based on Bonnie and Clyde, but on the true story of the capture of the infamous Ashley Gang at the Sebastian inlet bridge in Florida. It is not particularly well done, however, it is very interesting to residents of the Treasure Coast because of its historical significance. The movie depicts the gang as they rob banks and kill on a northward path along the Gold and Treasure Coasts of Florida, running just ahead of the then sheriff of Palm Beach County, who was determined to end their violent rampages. In addition to the well known professional cast, numerous local citizens (amateurs)took extra parts as deputies, bystanders, etc. While this was great fun for the locals, the practice of utilizing so many amateurs did nothing to enhance the quality of the film. The movie is something Karen Black probably wishes she had never done. It is poorly acted, poorly directed and generally as captivating as a high school video class's production.

Loree My entertainment of this movie was laughing at it. I think the point when it really goes over the edge was when Fabian's eye patch actually switched from his one eye to his other eye and back again. I thought this was such an obvious mistake that I rewound and watched the one scene again. He is running on a dock when this happens. Sure enough his eye patch switched eyes with no explanation.I watched this movie because it was on late night and it was free. And I was interested in seeing Karen Black and Fabian Forte in a movie together. So it was an okay movie for that type of watching. But if you really want to see a movie about lovers being outlaws. I would stick to Bonnie and Clyde with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.