Reviews of movies directed by Sam Peckinpah.
Friday, January 11th 2008
Grade: D+
Synopsis: Betrayed and crippled by a coworker (Robert Duvall), a mercenary (James Caan) recovers to safeguard a Japanese politician and seek revenge.
The Killer Elite was, hopefully, little more than a paycheck for director Sam Peckinpah, as the film is a frustrating, overlong, and ultimately silly endeavor.
There are glimpses, here and there, of Peckinpah’s genius. The film’s central conflict revolves around two men, once friends, now enemies after taking different paths to cope with a changing world; a reoccurring theme in Peckinpah’s work. Unfortunately, this theme is essentially lost amidst a silly kung-fu movie that no one takes seriously. According to the IMDB, Peckinpah said in a 1975 interview that his preparation for the film consisted of watching Bruce Lee movies. Watching the film, it’s easy to believe it. MORE »
Posted at 5:45 PM in Movie Reviews and Sam Peckinpah.
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Saturday, December 1st 2007
Grade: A
Synopsis: An aging former lawman (Randolph Scott) agrees to help his old partner (Joel McCrea) transport gold from a mining town with the intention of stealing it for himself.
Ride the High Country, while not his first film, served as something of a debut for director Sam Peckinpah, representing his first visit to the revisionist western genre that would later become so closely associated with him.
And what a visit it is. Peckinpah takes two lesser-known mainstays of the traditional western and elevates them to genre icons. Scott and McCrea are absolutely perfect as a pair of aging former lawman; now well past their prime and simply trying to find their place in a world that’s passing them by. Through them, Peckinpah shows us a harsh, brutal west that’s light years removed from traditional genre setting. This loss of innocence perfectly mirrors the era in which the film was made, as the more sedate fifties were giving way to the tumultuous sixties. MORE »
Posted at 10:47 PM in Movie Reviews and Sam Peckinpah.
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Monday, November 19th 2007
Grade: D+
Synopsis: A CIA agent (John Hurt) convinces the host (Rutger Hauer) of a popular talk show that three of his close friends (Craig T. Nelson, Dennis Hopper, and Chris Sarandon) are working for the KGB.
The Osterman Weekend is a convoluted, overblown film that, unfortunately, was director Sam Peckinpah’s last.
While it’s easy to see how Robert Ludlum’s novel would interest Peckinpah, you have to look closely to see any of the director’s handy work. While the opening and closing segments are a virtual train wreck, the middle of the film, particularly the initial scenes at the party, are vintage Peckinpah. This is the film’s real strength, as the relationships between four couples, long time friends up to this point, begin to unravel. MORE »
Posted at 3:55 PM in Movie Reviews and Sam Peckinpah.
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Wednesday, August 22nd 2007
Grade: A
Synopsis: After moving to his wife’s small English village, an American mathematician (Dustin Hoffman) has trouble with some of the locals.
Straw Dogs is a powerful film. Director Sam Peckinpah explores the nature of violence in a brutally honest manner that –while provocative—is never exploitive unlike, say, The Last House on the Left (1972), which also deals with the effects of violence on the average person.
This is a movie made by a tormented man. Peckinpah wrestles with his demons in a profoundly elegant manner, exploring not only the nature of man, but also the inequality of the sexes over the course of the story. MORE »
Posted at 9:23 PM in Movie Reviews and Sam Peckinpah.
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