Synopsis: Car chase movie, driver bets he can get from Denver to San Francisco in 15 hours
Director: Richard Sarafian
Actors: Barry Newman, Dean Jagger, Cleavon Little
Date: 1971
How viewed: bought via Amazon
Rating: 4/5
David Meyer says:
Stirring and memorable all out of proportion to its budget or to the quality of its execution.
Stirring and memorable all out of proportion to its budget or to the quality of its execution.
I say:
Didn't have much enthusiasm to watch this, but it was much better than I expected. A guy picks up a car in Denver, which he has to deliver to San Francisco (1200 miles (thank you Google Maps!)), and bets the dealer supplying him with amphetamines that he can do it in 15 hours (fortunately the car he's delivering is a super-charged Dodge Challenger). So, there's a lot of the expected shots of the car hurtling down long straight roads, dodging in and out of traffic, around roadworks, being chased by various police cars, car crashes, etc, etc. However, the scenery is fantastic (through Colorado, Nevada, and California - they seem to have somehow missed out Utah!), there are some really nice shots of local rural american folk, and nice interjections of flashbacks to fill in some of the driver's history, and the film itself is really sharp (very clear colour), which make it seem surprisingly modern. The main downside is Barry Newman who is far from charismatic, especially with those 1970's sideburns...
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