The Driver

1978's THE DRIVER has been described by some as an art house chase thriller.  This descriptor was used with some disdain, as the film failed to find enough of an audience during its original release to make a profit.  I find this curious, as writer/director Walter Hill's movie is a lean, brisk hour and a half, filled with rousing auto chases and terse verbal exchanges.  Was the film too moody, too mysterious for the masses? 

The plot involves a getaway driver (Ryan O'Neal) who is doggedly pursued by an oddball cop (Bruce Dern). In between them are several lowlife criminals, detective colleagues, and two intriguing women - a "connection" (Ronee Blakely) and a "player" (Isabelle Adjani).  Nobody is identified by an actual name.  The driver doesn't say much.  Everyone's motives are noirish.  There really aren't any "good guys."  All the better for existential dread, which clearly Hill was aiming for.

I like that about this movie.  It's almost as if the standard cops and robbers photoplay is turned on its ear.   After you marvel at the impressive stunt work and beautifully rendered atmosphere, you have time (perhaps moreso with a second viewing) to recognize this drama's layers.  I wouldn't necessarily equate it with Samuel Beckett, but THE DRIVER's anonymity of its characters allow us to forget any alleged expository details and see these types as embodiments of Human Nature/Flaw.  Who wins at the end? Anyone?

This is a good movie, though it does have numerous unintentional laughs.  Primarily for its seriousness, which occasionally gets too be a tad too much for its own good.  I also found the multiple scenes of O'Neal walking away from people without answering their questions unexplainably hilarious.  The actor, often criticized for having an empty presence, is thus quite perfect for this role.  Dern by contrast is verbose and just this side of chewing the scenery, and quite entertaining.

I found elements of the French New Wave and Westerns in Hill's movie, but perhaps the tire squealing (including a funny/horrifying scene involving a vintage Mercedes) is what really makes THE DRIVER so memorable.  And Michael Small's eerie score.