The Sugarland Express

Dir: Steven Spielberg

1974

****

Based on real events, The Sugarland Express is the debut feature (to receive a cinema release) from Hollywood's most famous beard. Bizarrely, the real Clovis Michael Poplin was released from jail two weeks before he and his wife's infamous police chase and Spielberg wisely omitted this 'stranger than fiction' fact and gave viewers a road movie with brains. It's the Bonnie and Clyde of the police chase genre with only Smoky & the Bandit 2 exceeding it in terms of how many polices cars featured and eventually written-off. I'm afraid I found Goldie Hawn to be thoroughly irritating, although that's probably what her character called for. The young William Atherton gives a strong performance, one of his last innocent roles before becoming one of the 1980's most despicable (and much loved) villains. Michael Sacks played his part rather well and, although his bank manager will disagree, I've always thought it was a shame he crossed over to the dark-side of banking, rather than continue his acting career. However, it's my opinion that it is the mighty Ben Johnson who really steals the show in his supporting role as the wise and sympathetic Captain Harlin Tanner. The chase scenes are great fun and there is plenty of intrigue, suspense, comedy, tragedy and romance to keep everybody happy. Spielberg would define the blockbuster a couple of years later with his infamous hit Jaws, somewhat of a a remake of his made-for-TV feature Duel. Both Duel and Sugarland Express are great examples of the two sides to his work, the influences are clear, but both films show the beginning of a new chapter in film making. They're both rather brilliant too.