In Prescott, We Eat Biscuits
Junior Bonner (1972)
directed by Sam Peckinpah
rating: 3 out of 5 cravats
on DVD from Videothèque
At first blush, Junior Bonner is just the sort of cobbled-together fantasy of fading male glory that fading male star Steve McQueen and down-but-not-out director Sam Peckinpah (Pat Garrett was released in '73) might have imagined after the night's first shots were long since flushed down the john. But Peckinpah's credit sequences, as usual, go a long way in setting a better, easier tone. The side streets of Prescott, Arizona, match the screenplay's gentle resistance to too much self-importance. Scenes that should feel unorganized feel loose instead, and in place of an ugly, expected confrontation between father and son, or brother and brother, there's a rambling, recuperative fight at a bar. Straw Dogs (1971) and The Getaway (1972) aren't just Peckinpah's two worst movies; they're ugly artifacts of Hollywood's most misogynistic impulses. But Junior Bonner - made between them - is so well-tempered and modestly proportioned that only Peckinpah and McQueen could have pulled it off, at least in 1972. There weren't many directors left who could say with a straight face that they wanted to film a decent, upright western. The producers probably thought they were kidding, but don't underestimate a drunk.
directed by Sam Peckinpah
rating: 3 out of 5 cravats
on DVD from Videothèque
At first blush, Junior Bonner is just the sort of cobbled-together fantasy of fading male glory that fading male star Steve McQueen and down-but-not-out director Sam Peckinpah (Pat Garrett was released in '73) might have imagined after the night's first shots were long since flushed down the john. But Peckinpah's credit sequences, as usual, go a long way in setting a better, easier tone. The side streets of Prescott, Arizona, match the screenplay's gentle resistance to too much self-importance. Scenes that should feel unorganized feel loose instead, and in place of an ugly, expected confrontation between father and son, or brother and brother, there's a rambling, recuperative fight at a bar. Straw Dogs (1971) and The Getaway (1972) aren't just Peckinpah's two worst movies; they're ugly artifacts of Hollywood's most misogynistic impulses. But Junior Bonner - made between them - is so well-tempered and modestly proportioned that only Peckinpah and McQueen could have pulled it off, at least in 1972. There weren't many directors left who could say with a straight face that they wanted to film a decent, upright western. The producers probably thought they were kidding, but don't underestimate a drunk.
posted by NPK at 8:32 PM
<< Home