Movie Review: Vigilante Force (1976)

Genre: Exploitation Action  

Director: George Armitage  

Starring: Kris Kristofferson, Jan-Michael Vincent, Victoria Principal, Bernadette Peters  
Running Time: 89 minutes  

Synopsis: The small town of Elk Hills, California is experiencing rowdy lawlessness due to an oil boom. At the request of local leaders, respected businessman Ben Arnold (Jan-Michael Vincent) recruits his brother Aaron (Kris Kristofferson), a Vietnam War veteran, to hurriedly join the police force and restore law and order. Aaron and his buddies are initially successful and the locals are pleased, but Aaron then reveals his dark side, turning on the town and unleashing a wave of extortion and violence. A showdown looms between the brothers.

What Works Well: Some of the explosions and stunts are not bad, and Bernadette Peters as an out-of-tune singer adds a lonely touch of victimized humanity.

What Does Not Work As Well: In better hands, this trashy story could have better explored the foxes-invited-to-save-the-henhouse Vietnam War metaphor. And with some investment in character, Aaron's war-damaged soul could have been given expressive space. Instead, director George Armitage resorts to mass brawls and cold-blooded shootings every three minutes, with none of the deaths causing even a momentary pause for shock, reflection, or grief. Sophomoric writing merges with wooden acting to create bottom-of-the-barrel drive-in entertainment focused on ogling Kris Kristofferson's shirtless physique.

Key Quote:

Ben (to Aaron): I'm the one that brought you here, and I'm the one that's gonna run you out.

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Movie Review: Big Wednesday (1978)

A story of friendship among a group of surfers, Big Wednesday carries natural appeal to surfing fans, but is less successful in capturing coming-of-age dynamics.

Starting in the early 1960s, the lives of three California surfer friends intertwine. Matt Johnson (Jan-Michael Vincent) is the most talented, but drinks heavily. Leroy "The Masochist" Smith (Gary Busey) is the wild one, while Jack Barlow (William Katt) is the steadiest. Life consists of surfing, partying, and trips to Mexico, and all the surfers in this community look up to Bear (Sam Melville), a surfboard designer and permanent fixture on the pier. 

Jack finds a girlfriend in Sally (Patti D'Arbanville), while Matt's girlfriend Peggy (Lee Purcell) announces an unexpected pregnancy. As the years pass Matt and Peggy stay together and raise their daughter, but he struggles with his drinking and fading legacy. The guys try to finagle a way to avoid the military draft by faking various physical and mental conditions, except for Jack, who willingly signs up and serves in Vietnam. The lives of the friends drift apart, but just as Bear predicted, an epic day of huge waves in the early 1970s has the potential to bring them back together.

If Big Wednesday was as profound as it wanted to be, it may have been excellent. Unfortunately, the film's opening 30 minutes reduces male friendship to brawling together, limiting the depth of meaningful brotherhood. The first act reveals director and co-writer John Milius' love of surfing (the film is semi-autobiographical), but stumbles on a foodfight and two back-to-back fistfights, one on each side of the US/Mexico border. Little beyond the obvious is ever revealed about Matt, Leroy, and Jack, the dialogue is often obscured by the sound of roaring waves or speeding traffic, and an unidentified narrator drowns in platitudinal waves.

The second and third acts are better but still disjointed. The draft-dodging sequence showcases ingenuity and is funny, but seems to drop in from another movie. Once the trio is separated, Milius starts to find some eloquent tones. Nostalgia and a pining for the old days kick-in, and an effective Jan-Michael Vincent takes over at the heart of the story. The finale is epic in both emotion and wave size, cinematographer Bruce Surtees along with a special water unit and stunt doubles capturing magnificent surfing action.

Bear experiences his own dryland success and failure, and provides good mystical glue connecting the past, present, and future through omnipresence, prophetic prose, and the one-of-a-kind board for the day-that-shall-come. Big Wednesday rides the waves, and finds as many bombs as wipeouts.

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Movie Review: The Mechanic (1972)

A crime thriller, The Mechanic is a deceptively complex and tidily executed action drama about an assassin's life.

In Los Angeles, Arthur Bishop (Charles Bronson) is a methodical hitman working for a mysterious criminal syndicate. After eliminating a target by staging a gas leak explosion, Bishop receives orders to terminate Harry McKenna (Keenan Wynn), an elderly friend of Bishop's deceased father and an ousted member of the syndicate. 

McKenna's 24-year-old son Steve (Jan-Michael Vincent), who never liked his father, enjoys the party lifestyle and also displays cold-blooded comfort around death. Bishop starts experiencing health issues, and takes Steve under his wing as a potential successor, teaching him the tricks of the assassination trade. But the syndicate is unhappy Bishop is making unilateral decisions, and the next few assignments for Bishop and Steve, including a rushed job in Naples, will be challenging.

Written by Lewis John Carlino and directed with panache by Michael Winner, The Mechanic is a career highlight for Charles Bronson and a superlatively economical thriller. The opening 15 minutes feature no dialogue: Bishop carefully plans and executes a hit, no words needed as Winner introduces the protagonist through deliberately efficient scenes. The final act is packed full of breathless action and twisty revelations, ending with a memorably abrupt triple punctuation mark. 

In between, unique character traits are allowed to surface. Bishop has a romantic partner (Jill Ireland), but only in the morning does their interlude expose corners of his psychology. Carlino is also interested in exploring the core theme of surrogate father-son dynamics. Both Bishop and Steve had troubled relationships with their dads, and Bishop finds a personal reason to make amends bundled within professional succession planning objectives. In this world of violence of course nothing will go according to plan, but the thoughtful human context infuses The Mechanic with unexpected depth.

Despite enjoying numerous locations ranging from Bishop's elegant bachelor's pad to plenty of learning-the-trade settings (including a small plane flight), the film is edited for bold brevity. When the time comes for action scenes, Winner excels with a deft touch, building tension in sharp strokes to keep the energy on edge. The stuntmen enjoy their moments of glory in a motorcycle chase on hillside trails and a car chase on twisty Italian coastal roads. The explosions are plentiful and spectacular, and the one shootout is suitably noisy. Using finely crafted tools, The Mechanic delivers the fix.

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