Monday 26 November 2012

The Getaway (1972)







The Getaway is a 1972 American action-crime film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring Steve McQueen in lead role.  Doc McCoy (Steve McQueen) and his wife Carol (Ali MacGraw),  plan and operate an ambitious bank robbery with a team of criminals.  A gang-member Rudy (Al Lettieri) betrays Doc .  Rudy wants to kill Doc but he is shot by him.    Nonetheless, his injuries are not serious as he has worn the bulletproof  vest.  Doc and his wife go to Mexico with the money.

 Steve McQueen does good job as thief "Doc McCoy".  His screen presence is immensely strong.   The anti-hero Doc is not a nice guy.  He hits his wife at-times and yet somehow he makes his character likable.  Ali MacGraw also gives a good performance here.  While she loves Doc ,he doesn't always return her affections.   Al Lettieri is amazing in the negative role.  He is the kind of actor who exhibits menace solely by breathing.  Ben Johnson makes an impression in a short role.


Like in most Peckinpah films, it is the style and the violence that stands out.  Here  Peckinpah uses displaced cuts to jump ahead in time before allowing the events within the film to catch up to the present.  Though this is not among the best works of Peckinpah ,  still it is a very well-made heist flick.  The Getaway is a solid action-thriller which shouldn't be missed by film-lovers.


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