RETROSPECT: STEVEN SPIELBERG’S THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS (1974)
April 14th 2009 08:21
Ben johnson is impressive as Captain Tanner in The Sugarland Express
After a young director named Steven Spielberg blew away the viewers of the ABC Movie of the Week with his 1971 telemovie, Duel – an economical story of a salesman being terrorised on the Californian highways by a faceless truck driver – he was afforded the chance to make his theatrical debut. The Sugarland Express was the result, a film almost purposely forgotten by some embarrassed Spielberg fans, as if its quality highlights how his films just aren’t so good anymore.
Based on a true story, The Sugarland Express follows the efforts of two married convicts, Lou Jean and Clovis Michael Poplin (Goldie Hawn and William Atherton), to retrieve their two-year-old son from his foster patents, after Lou Jean was denied custody upon completion of her sentence. At the beginning of the film, Lou Jean springs the reluctant Michael from jail and through a collection of keystone cop misjudgements, the couple manage to kidnap a highway patrolman, Slide (Michael Sacks), starting a road trip across Texas to Sugar Land, where they plan to retrieve their son. Before long, a score of patrol cars is on their tail, led (or perhaps held at bay) by the seasoned and thoughtful Captain Harlin Tanner (Ben Johnson). While Tanner wants to protect Slide, he also realises early on in the piece that the Poplins are nothing more than a couple of desperate kids and is hopeful for a peaceful end to the hijacking. But what begins as a comic and madcap misadventure, with Tanner at one stage having to push the stolen patrol car when it runs out of gas, slowly turns towards darker territory as the Poplins’ refusal to surrender – and growing public support – starts to rankle with the ever-expanding convoy of glory hunting patrolmen.
Working from a script by Hal Barwood and Matthew Robbins, Spielberg used the studio money to dazzling effect on The Sugarland Express. Its evident from the massive number of police cars that rumble along behind the Poplins right down to the exceedingly ambitious photography; audiences at the time must have been positively stunned by the fleet-footed work of the 26-year-old director and his cinematographer, Vilmos Zsigmond. Just about every shot sweeps with a gusto that would have seemed almost extra terrestrial in 1974, whether it be spacious establishing shots, dynamic six car pile-up set pieces or a finely tuned piece of character observation. It’s immediately identifiable as Spielberg and carries such an exuberance that you can imagine the excited young man looking at all the equipment on offer – lenses, cranes, trailer units - and ordering five of everything. This is a very modern film, and it’s easy to imagine it being ten years younger than it actually is.
The character work is also champagne Spielberg. There’s an effortless touch to the development here as the Poplins, Slide and Tanner are all drawn closer together. The scenes inside the car as Slide slowly grows to like his captors are handled with such a deft touch you almost chuckle at their expertise. In this regard, the director is certainly helped by some great performances. Goldie Hawn has rarely been better as the effervescent but vapid and flighty Lou Jean, while William Atherton – so many times since cast as an oily ne’er-do-well – is sublime as the likable but callow and put-upon Clovis. Ben Johnson, too, uses his considerable grasp of nuance as Captain Tanner, a man feeling the heat of being caught in a moral trap while trying to placate the increasingly cantankerous mob of patrolman who follow him and the Poplins.
The Poplins are soon joined by an army of police and rubbernecks on their cross-Texas journey.
Interestingly enough, while The Sugarland Express is classic Spielberg in its effortless and expert filmmaking, the contemporariness of its approach to action and character also bobs to the surface in a more negative regard when it comes to balancing those two tricky elements. The bloated, wonky films of modern times, where character is often sacrificed on the alter of overly long and soporific action sequences is hinted at within The Sugarland Express as the filmmakers often chose to prioritise a flashy and absurdist set piece over coherent character. This leads to some bizarre moments, such as Tanner shooting out the tyres of a pernicious news vehicle, causing a rather fatal looking accident. They are strange moments, and take away from what could only ever be a character driven story.
Still, The Sugarland Express is a fantastic throwback to the early years of perhaps the greatest stylist of them all. If nothing else, it’s a brilliant tool for analysing the form of Spielberg’s talent, right down to the creases and imperfections that exist in just about every one of his films. His trademark touches run through The Sugarland Express, from the fantastic sense of scope right down to its delicate dance with mawkishness. It may continue to be underrated by many a film nut, jilted and forgotten in favour of the minimalism of Duel or the nightmarish brilliance of Jaws, but for any student of the pictures this is an essential piece of celluloid and can rightfully take its place as one of the first films of the modern age.
Check out the trailer for The Sugarland Express below:
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Mountain Fog
Comment by Damo
I did know it was Spielberg till now.
There are some epic scenes like the two kids counting all the police cars as they pass. The portable loo.
I haven't seen this in years but it sticks in my head.
Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
Comment by Matt Shea
Cib, no-no - I hope my review didn't give the impression that I didn't like this - it's good stuff. It's well worth watching and you can see how Spielberg launched on to bigger things.
Comment by David O'Connell
20/20 Filmsight
Screen Fanatic
Comment by Matt Shea
Comment by Hartmut