Arnold Schwarzenegger. Sylvester Stallone. Bruce Willis. Steven Seagal. All those great 1980s action film stars had to share their lofty position with veterans like Clint Eastwood and Charles Bronson. Steve McQueen had all the qualifications to join this elite club, but fate decided differently. The Hunter, 1980 action biopic, was the last title in McQueen’s impressive filmography.
In this film McQueen plays real life character of Ralph “Papa” Thorson, modern-day bounty hunter (who briefly appears in the film in the role of bartender). Thorson works for Los Angeles bail bondsman Richie Blumenthal (played by Eli Wallach) and his task is apprehending criminal defendants who failed to turn at court. Job takes him all over the country where he meets all kinds of people and gets in all kinds of difficult situations, but he prefers not to use without violence. Some of the fugitives even become his friends, like Tommy Price (played by LeVar Burton) who ends up doing repairs in house Thorson shares with his girlfriend Dottie (played by Kathryn Harrold), a schoolteacher who is expecting a baby. The pair becomes a target of mentally unbalanced stalker and former convict Rocco Mason (played by Tracey Walter), former fugitive who blames Thorson for putting him in prison.
When The Hunter first appeared in cinemas, it was greeted poorly by the critics. Arguments for such criticism can be found in script by Ted Leighton and Peter Hyams, which has weak plot and episodic nature. The latter makes this film somewhat chaotic, with general tone switching from light-hearted action comedy to serious crime drama, with some scenes even featuring discussions about issues like suicide, abortion or police corruption. McQueen, known for his diva-like antics at the latter stages of his career, bears lot of responsibility for this, because he fired Hyams, the original director, at the set and, just like in the case of Tom Horn , directed most of the film himself with television veteran Buzz Kulik being credited strictly for procedural reasons. Chaotic nature of film is reflected in the use of two different soundtracks by Michel Legrand and Carl Bernstein that hardly add anything to the film, which, despite being regular Hollywood production, looks too much like a cheap television film or a pilot for series that never got made. Even the very good cast is wasted in underwritten roles and forgettable characters.
Steve McQueen might have been the main source of problems for this film, but he was ultimately the only person that held it together. His charisma makes the character of Thorson work, and he very bravely embraces the character’s age as the minor element of the plot, including the dialogue line which would be made famous by Lethal Weapon, much more successful and iconic action film. And, of course, there are some really inventive and impressive action scenes in which McQueen, like in his best films, does his own stunts. One of the best example is a chase scene in Chicago, during which McQueen’s characters end up dangling from the top of the moving train. This and other scenes of such type are even more impressive in light of the fact that McQueen made this film while being terminally ill with lung cancer. Swan song of the action film icon like McQueen could have been much better, but all those who watch this film would also conclude that it also could have been much worse.
RATING: 5/10 (++)
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