Thunderbolt & Lightfoot (1974)

Jeff Bridges actually corralled an Oscar nomination for his spirited, oddball performance in this genre crime story, directed by first-timer Michael Cimino who (a short two films later) would bring down a studio with Heaven's Gate. Clint Eastwood plays a bank robber par excellence with a flair for explosives who is being hunted by his former partners, who think he has their loot from their last job. Bridges is his eager apprentice and sidekick, who helps him escape; when Eastwood finally makes peace with his hunters, Bridges convinces them to try a daring robbery--but things inevitably go awry. The relationship between Eastwood and Bridges is both funny and touching in this, one of Eastwood's better post-Dirty Harry efforts. --Marshall Fine Amazon.com essential video

Seven years after a daring bank robbery involving an anti-tank gun used to blow open a vault, the robbery team temporarily puts

Seven years after a daring bank robbery involving an anti-tank gun used to blow open a vault, the robbery team temporarily puts aside their mutual suspicions to repeat the crime after they are unable to find the loot from the original heist, hidden behind a school chalkboard. The hardened artilleryman and his flippant, irresponsible young sidekick are the two wild cards in the deck of jokers. Written by {booda@datasync.com}

June 5, 2008

"You stick with me kid. You're gonna live forever."

This 1974 caper movie manages the neat trick of both delivering what the audience wants and subverting their expectations at the same time. Clint Eastwood plays a crook on the run from ex-partners in crime George Kennedy and Geoffrey Lewis (often hysterically funny here) who teams up with Jeff Bridges' extrovert drifter to retrieve the loot from a previous robbery only to find his old accomplices tagging along and things - naturally - not going at all to plan. It's an almost perfectly judged mixture of comedy and action with both feet firmly on the ground in a way that would be almost unthinkable today. There's a real rapport between the outstanding cast and an affection for the characters that adds to the impact of the very Seventies ending. Writer-director Michael Cimino handles the mood swings adeptly and even injects a subtle undercurrent of sexual ambiguity that never gets in the way of the entertainment: this was a terrific movie in 1974, and if anything it's an even better one today. The transfer isn't great, but it is in the original 2.35:1 widescreen ratio. February 16, 2008

OVERLOOKED GEM!

A suprisingly touching and humorous movie that wrongly gets overlooked when people mention movies Clint Eastwoods has starred in. Although, it's Jeff Bridges who steals every scene and it seems Clint doesn't mind one bit. It's one of the few movies you can catch Eastwood crack a genuine smile, Jeff Bridges brings something fatherly out of Clint that is very sincere and real. The caper itself is beside the point, it's about these two misfits living day by day, and coping with life as its been dealt to them. A real pleasure. December 6, 2007

Cimino first triumphant debut...

The very first shot of "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" - a faultless composition, fifty per cent wispy Idaho sky, fifty per cent cornfield - establishes an elegant style which Cimino maintains throughout the film... The second scene - Clint Eastwood as we have never seen him before, wearing spectacles, his hair slicked back and dressed as a vicar delivering a sermon in a crowded country church - immediately makes one realize that the film may be quite different from any of Eastwood's previous ones... But the third scene, in which the vicar is chased across a seemingly endless cornfield by an irate gun-firing George Kennedy establishes that all is not as it seems to be...

Eastwood is rescued by Lightfoot (Jeff Bridges), who has just relieved a car salesman of $3000 dollars' worth of automobile, and a partnership is quickly created, with the veteran Thunderbolt asserting his experience and virility over the inexperienced Lightfoot... Casting off his vicar's clothes Thunderbolt then takes his belt and endures agonizing pain as he uses it to pull his dislocated shoulder into place...

Thunderbolt is being pursued by Red Leary (George Kennedy) and Eddie Goody (Geoffrey Lewis) who are former partners of his in crime and who believe he has the half million dollar takings from their last bank raid... They mean business... While Thunderbolt and Lightfoot enjoy themselves with two young ladies named Gloria and Melody, Leary and Goody wait outside. 'Are you sure that's their car?' wonders Goody. 'That's their hearse,' says Leary...

The film was a triumphant debut for Cimino... His script combined wit and the naive philosophy of the motorized cowboys... 'Leary, I had a dream about you last night." "About what?" "I dreamt you said hello to me.'

At the beginning of the film when Eastwood recites his sermon for the benefit of his felonious friend, 'and the lion shall lie down with the leopard' (Cimino used it purposely to indicate the liaison between Lightfoot the lion and Thunderbolt the leopard), the younger man asks 'What's that - a poem?' 'No,' replies Thunderbolt, 'a prayer'. At the end of the film the younger man is still seeking answers from his senior partner... 'Where you heading?' 'See what's over the next mountain! We won, didn't we?' 'I guess we did - for the time being.'

Cimino created the part for Eastwood and in doing so drew greatly on his actual personality... For those people who know the real Clint Eastwood, no film part better conveys the style, the warmth, and the dry delivery of the man himself...

January 15, 2007

Strolling thunder

Diary of a movie from the viewer's point of view:

40-minute mark. I turn off the movie because I'm about to nod off. I still haven't got a handle on THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT. It's either going to be a buddy movie, a chase movie, a caper movie, or it's going to continue to dawdle till they roll the closing credits. Sure is taking it's sweet time getting off the schneid. Con man/grifter Clint Eastwood met younger con man/grifter Jeff Bridges reels ago, they've stolen a couple of cars together, been chased by a gun-toting George Kennedy, and otherwise did the macho bonding thing. Not sure who is what, yet. Bridges' character, right before I nodded off, was wondrin' out loud what it would take to knock over a bank before Eastwood threw him a knowing sneer. So far pretty much no plot, little character development, and the usually reliable Bridges is mugging around so much I'm hoping that, at some point, Eastwood slaps him. Not at all sure I want to spent any more time with this one after I wake up.

Later - Hmmm. The nap seems to have helped both of us. I'm refreshed and the movie (finally) seems energized. THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT takes its sweet, wallowing-in-ambience, time catching a plot, but when it does it turns into an above-average buddy/caper flick. Either Bridges toned it down some, or I grew used to him, but looking back on it he turns in a fine, affecting performance as a young drifter with grand dreams of grand larceny. Even Eastwood seems a little more relaxed than usual.

This is one of director Michael Cimino's first movies, and I'm not a fan of his. The Deer Hunter didn't do much for me, and I believe Heaven's Gate is justifiably infamous. I thought this was going to be another slow moving to nowhere picture, but the latter half is engrossing. Looks beautiful, too. Best of all was the ending - which I won't give away here - that Bridges plays to perfection and that brings it all home. If you're like me and tend to get impatient with pretty pictures going nowhere, I'll suggest you give this one a long chance before hitting the eject button. You won't be disappointed.
October 11, 2006

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