Genre Guesstimation – Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974)

The idea behind this feature (Genre Guesstimation) is for me to watch a bunch of new movies (or ones that I haven’t seen many times) from the chosen monthly GG genre in order to expand my knowledge of movies within that particular genre.

This month’s Genre has been chosen by Drew of Drew’s Movie Reviews we will be reviewing our favorite Heist Movies.

Please get me your submissions by the 25th of March by sending them to drewsheist@movierob.net

Try to think out of the box!

Great choice Drew!

Let’s see if I felt that this movie would be worthy of being in the company of my others favorite movies in the genre of Heist Films…

“Ah. You stick with me, kid. You can live forever. ” – Lightfoot

Number of Times Seen – 1 (6 Mar 2016)

Brief Synopsis – A former bank thief gets his old team back together for one last job.

My Take on it – I have always been a fan of Clint Eastwood’s movie (as Director and as actor) and being that his credits list is so long, I am always happy to expand my knowledge of his history of work.

I, for some reason that I can’t quite explain, was expecting a Western, but in the end had to settle with a modern day heist instead.

The heist plot is outlined for us quite well and we are properly informed about what is meant t happen and just like the characters, we are caught by surprise by any out of the ordinary occurrences that happen along the way.

The characters are fun and interesting to watch as things unfold and the chemistry is there between almost all of them.

Eastwood and co-star Jeff Bridges have great chemistry together despite seemingly being opposites and as things go by, we begin to like all of the characters and want them all to succeed.

The film has a very 70’s vibe to it via the music and the way the plot folds out before out eyes is quite clever because it leads us down so many paths and we must figure it all out like a puzzle.

The recently deceased George Kennedy was superb here as a former gang member.  As great as he always was when he portrayed good guys, he excelled at playing characters who walked the fine line between good and bad even as they question both us and themselves as to what the truth really is.

Bottom Line – Was glad to finally see this. Overall, this is a very good heist movie with some great characters who have the chemistry needed to succeed. Eastwood and Bridges seem like opposites, but they actually mesh very well here and give us characters that we really want to care about. Very 70’s music wise and plot wise, but still manages to be clever enough to let us understand what is really going on throughout. Kennedy was always great as a good character, but he was even better when he played tough guys who aren’t sure whether they want to be good or bad. Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Michael Cimino was given the chance to write and direct this picture for Clint Eastwood after Eastwood was impressed with a rewrite Cimino did on the second “Dirty Harry” script, Magnum Force (1973). (From IMDB)

Genre Grandeur Worthy? – Not quite.  It’s a pretty good heist movie, but not one that I can see myself watching over and over.

Rating – Globe Worthy

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