Bad Company

Bad Company opens with young men trying to avoid being drafted for the Civil War, a parallel to the Vietnam War going on at the time the film was made, 1972. Barry Brown, who comes from a good family, runs into Jeff Bridges and a gang of thieves. They all head west over the prairie, trying to survive as best they can.

The film is one of the anti Westerns of the 70s, where they go for a more unromantic tone. It looks beautiful though, photographed by Gordon Willis. The director is Robert Benton. It's a good script as well and the ending couldn't be more perfect.

Fat City

Fat City is like the best Bukowski film ever made, except it's not based on Bukowski but rather a book by Leonard Gardner. However, the story takes place in the world of Bukowski, full of bums and barflies. Stacy Keach is an old boxer and Jeff Bridges is an upcoming talent. That's pretty much it, not a lot happens, but it's a great film, showing the downside of the American dream.

It's directed by John Huston, and what a long career this guy had, from The Maltese Falcon to The Dead. He probably did some lesser films as well, but in Fat City there's not a wrong step or a false note. It's never condescending, everything rings true. The film is slow, but not selfindulgently so like some films from this period.

Bridges is as usual excellent in his part, but the film really belongs to Keach, it's simply a brilliant performance. Susan Tyrrel plays his girlfriend. She's one of those eccentric/unglamourous actresses from the 70s, like Karen Black, that you don't see much in movies today. In the role of the boxing coach you find Nicolas Colasanto, who later became famous as Coach, on Cheers! Music is by Kris Kristofferson.

Thunderbolt and Lightfoot

Clint Eastwood is a bankrobber running into car thief Jeff Bridges. Arthur Kennedy and Geoffrey Lewis are former partners of Eastwood, looking for the money from a previous robbery. The money seems to be lost so they all decide to rob the same bank a second time.

Michael Cimino's debut as a director is a mix of road movie and heist film. It's very much an American film, a bit John Ford, the characters almost lost in the wide open spaces. Basically, it's just about a silly bank heist, but the movie shows the difference between a hack and a real artist, with Cimino going for the small details. An extra bonus is the sight of Bridges in drag!

The ending goes in a darker direction, and the final image is strangely similar to the one in American Heart.

Jeff Bridges

I've bought a couple of dvds with Jeff Bridges and will also be rewatching some of his older films, starting with American Heart. It came out in 92, but has a 70s feel to it. Bridges is an ex-con having to look after his son, Edward Furlong. The story takes place in Seattle, it's their dream to move to Alaska to start a new life there.

I'm not sure if Furlong is much of an actor, but he has the sad and lost look that's right for the part. It's a great, nuanced performance by Bridges. The film has a documentary look, possibly influenced by Italian neorealism. At some point someone even steals Jeff Bridges' bycycle! Only towards the end does it get a bit melodramatic, but leading to a haunting final image.

The dvd has no extra material. A commentary track would have been nice. Still, it's definitely worth a look.

Aaand another

The text says NO TO TRAFFIC. I had started signing the cartoons by my initials, JAS, at this point, that later turned into Jason.

And another

Another early cartoon