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Hard Times, 1975
Chaney (Charles Bronson) is a drifter who falls into the sights of a hustler called Speed (James Coburn). Chaney walks softly, but carries a deadly right hook, and Speed soon convinces Chaney to participate regularly in illegal fights. But despite the duo's successes, Speed's bad habits put them in more dangerous situations. At the same time, Chaney begins to get the itch to move on.
I did enjoy this film, and I think that the combination of Bronson and Coburn was a good one. Bronson's quiet but observant Chaney is a good match for Coburn's move-forward-or-die Speed. The friendship and conflicts between the two of them arise incredibly naturally and never feel contrived. I bet all you Day of the Jackal folks are going to tell me you didn't notice the simmering sexual tension between them either.
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This film didn't land in the great tier for me, but I enjoyed it. Bronson has great presence, and there are several fun sequences. I liked the bright colors and the different ways that the film evokes the Great Depression era.
I did feel a bit . . . removed from the characters. They both have plenty of personality, of course, even if Chaney's personality is more subdued. But I didn't feel like I really clicked wither either of them all that much. There is a subplot about Chaney striking up a romance with a woman whose husband is in jail, but that didn't end up revealing as much about him as I'd hoped. He stayed just on the wrong side of quiet/reserved for me to really feel like he was a person with depth.
While this wasn't an immediate classic for me, I could really see why someone would enjoy it a lot and enjoy revisiting it. It's the kind of movie with stakes and momentum, but nothing so intense that you couldn't watch it if you were feeling a little blue.
Hard Times, 1975
Chaney (Charles Bronson) is a drifter who falls into the sights of a hustler called Speed (James Coburn). Chaney walks softly, but carries a deadly right hook, and Speed soon convinces Chaney to participate regularly in illegal fights. But despite the duo's successes, Speed's bad habits put them in more dangerous situations. At the same time, Chaney begins to get the itch to move on.
I did enjoy this film, and I think that the combination of Bronson and Coburn was a good one. Bronson's quiet but observant Chaney is a good match for Coburn's move-forward-or-die Speed. The friendship and conflicts between the two of them arise incredibly naturally and never feel contrived. I bet all you Day of the Jackal folks are going to tell me you didn't notice the simmering sexual tension between them either.
This film didn't land in the great tier for me, but I enjoyed it. Bronson has great presence, and there are several fun sequences. I liked the bright colors and the different ways that the film evokes the Great Depression era.
I did feel a bit . . . removed from the characters. They both have plenty of personality, of course, even if Chaney's personality is more subdued. But I didn't feel like I really clicked wither either of them all that much. There is a subplot about Chaney striking up a romance with a woman whose husband is in jail, but that didn't end up revealing as much about him as I'd hoped. He stayed just on the wrong side of quiet/reserved for me to really feel like he was a person with depth.
While this wasn't an immediate classic for me, I could really see why someone would enjoy it a lot and enjoy revisiting it. It's the kind of movie with stakes and momentum, but nothing so intense that you couldn't watch it if you were feeling a little blue.