Friday, March 29, 2013

The Butcher, The Baker, The Candlestick Maker

Busting (1974)
directed by Peter Hyams
rating: 3 out of 5 cravats
watched on Netflix Instant

Union Station (1950)
directed by Rudolph Maté
rating: 3 out of 5 cravats
watched on Netflix Instant

Busting is a 3 going on 4, but Elliott Gould and his handlebar mustache are a pair of fives in the company of straight man Robert Blake. The sun was out and it was one of those days when I could imagine lucking upon easy double features like Union Station and Busting between now and the 4th of July. I can't believe there was ever a time when I couldn't summon up random classics on demand.

Union Station, set in Chicago, was filmed in LA, and it's a great movie about... Union Station, with a contained crime caper tucked into the foot lockers. Lyle Bettger approaches Jefty levels of maniacal glee as the bad guy, tormenting the blind girl he kidnaps and wondering why her dad would ever pay a six-figure ransom to get her back. Meanwhile, Mr. "Mary Kate Danaher," née Barry Fitzgerald, winks his Irish Inspector's eyes every time a cop roughs up a bum for information. My favorite scene had him mixing cocktails at his kitchen counter: a splash and a stir and a glug of rum.

Busting is a cynical picture but graceful in its defeatist's perspective.  In Dirty Harry, cowardly political bigwigs won't let an honest citizen draw his gun, but Busting doesn't draw the line at bureaucratic bloat. Almost everyone is susceptible to some level of corruption; in the long run, the good guys are simply outnumbered. Surely Delaney Williams took some inspiration for the role of Jay Landsman from actor John Lawrence. And McNulty - well, we can't all be Elliott Gould.