 |
| Charles Bronson in BREAKOUT Year: 1975 Rates: ***1/2 |
The violent prologue of the 1975 Tom Gries
jailbreak flick is so Sam Peckinpah you could call it BRING ME THE HEAD OF ROBERT DUVALL, and the Bloody Sam similarities include echoed gunshots under the hot Mexico
sun; a white shirt soaked with gory, bright red blood; a slow-motion body falling to
the ground as the opening credits appear across paused-images as Jerry Goldsmith's score opens with soft, skeletal vibes into a Spanish groove...
And even beyond all that, BREAKOUT is a modern Spaghetti Western (released the same year as Gries/Bronson's actual Western BREAKHEART PASS) wherein action hero Charles Bronson is similar to his colorful MR.
MAJESTYK character, only even more playfully cocky and wisecracking...
 |
| Robert Duvall and Jill Ireland in BREAKOUT |
A small-plane pilot who doesn't just narrow his eyes to get what he's
after — more of a human being than a big screen teflon legend, giving
this otherwise sparse and gritty, rural crime-based melodrama more than a dash of
genuine personality throughout...
Although the flip-side can be tough and downright frustrating, that is,
having one of the all-time great actors, Robert Duvall, incapable of doing anything except suffer inside a Mexican prison
cell, only to fail at several escape attempts including getting buried alive or just randomly
beaten/bullied by guards...
 |
| Charles Bronson in BREAKOUT |
Yet the glass is half full with the adventurous Bronson in the air while the grounded Duvall waits/hopes on the ground; the latter
whose wife, played by Jill Ireland, is stuck in-between these polar
opposites...
One's rich man (grandson of business tycoon John Huston) facing a thirty-year sentence, and the
other a working class maverick living from paycheck to paycheck — finally
happening upon this much needed payday...
 |
| Jill Ireland in BREAKOUT |
Meanwhile, Jill Ireland is given an important middleground
role while Duvall displays his
usual blunt intensity, having conversation-turned-arguments with his wife
in the hellish, caveman-like cell...
Herein she faces an entirely brand
new beast than she, or we, are used to while Bronson's character seems like a loner, like most of his roles,
but here he's got an extremely reluctant partner in Randy Quaid along
with 11th hour ace helicopter flier Alan Vint... the latter being technically the most important of all...
 |
| Charles Bronson in BREAKOUT |
But in a movie centering on a
daring if nearly-impossible rescue, Bronson's the only character to
root for yet he's anything but conventionally charming, and, what happens
in old movies where the gruff pilot has to warm up to the rich lady,
and vice versa, is hinted at without being hackneyed, cliché...
Continuing to think up new plans to rescue his client's husband... while
some plans are edgier than others, and the finale goes on a too long
during the planning stages (including the potential use of Sheree North and jealous husband Roy Jensen)... then rushed during the climax...
BREAKOUT provides a glimpse of what Charles Bronson used to be: a colorful, somewhat even talkative character actor, only now in the urgent lead.
 |
| Charles Bronson with Alan Vint and Randy Quaid in BREAKOUT |
 |
| Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland in BREAKOUT |
 |
| Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland in BREAKOUT |
 |
| Robert Duvall and Jill Ireland in BREAKOUT |
 |
| Robert Duvall in BREAKOUT |
 |
| Desk-set villain John Huston in BREAKOUT |
 |
| Jill Ireland in BREAKOUT |
 |
| Robert Duvall in BREAKOUT |
 |
Robert Duvall in BREAKOUT with Jill Ireland
|
 |
Charles Bronson in BREAKOUT with Sheree North
|
Robyn Hilton enters into an eclectic exploitation comedy career in Wonder Women circa 1973 As mentioned a few posts ago, ROBYN HILTON, b...
year: 1978 cast: Allen Garfield, Leif Garrett, Kathleen Lloyd, Tony Alva, Pam Kenneally rating: ***1/2 Although promoted as a Leif Garr...
Kari Michaelsen in Saturday the 14th year: 1982 In LOVE AT FIRST BITE, a popular comedy that took the vampire genre by satire, Richard ...
Mary-Louise Weller in NATIONAL LAMPOON'S ANIMAL HOUSE ANIMAL HOUSE, directed by John Landis and produced by Ivan Reitman, stars John Be...
Cornelia Sharpe in BUSTING Year: 1974 Rating: **** Starring Elliott Gould and Robert Blake as determined vice cops BUSTING hookers, makin...
Robyn Hilton on STARSKY AND HUTCH Model/Actress ROBYN HILTON played Mel Brook's secretary in BLAZING SADDLES and turns up in an epis...
Kerri Green and John Candy in SUMMER RENTAL Year: 1985 John Candy, in his first leading role, plays a burnt-out air traffic controller ...
Robyn Hilton in Video Vixens the same year as Blazing Saddles: 1974 The Anthology of Comedic Parodies, already done in several Woody All...
WILLIAM SMITH AS FALCONETTI ON RICH MAN POOR MAN The baddest of all TV bad guys… Matt Dillon’s character in BEAUTIFUL GIRLS calls Antho...
Elizabeth James and Tom Laughlin on equal ground YEAR: 1967 THE BORN LOSERS wasn't supposed to happen but thank God it did since BIL...
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.