The Hitcher (1986)

This a Covid-19 2020 minireview!

“[Picking up the hitchhiker] My mother told me to never do this.” – Jim Halsey

Number of Times Seen – Twice (Cable in the 80’s and 3 Jun 2020)

Brief Synopsis – After picking up a dangerous hitchhiker, a teenager needs to find a way to exonerate himself when this mysterious man commits numerous crimes and gets him blamed for them.

Bottom Line – Classic Rutger Hauer film that unfortunately doesn’t work well enough. The characters are all far too superficial and the way that things play out doesn’t feel realistic enough. Hauer and C. Thomas Howell were both iconic actors of very different generation in the 80’s, yet they feel like equals here as they engage in a cat and mouse game that reaches deadly proportions.

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – In Rutger Hauer’s book “All Those Moments”, Hauer mentioned how Executive Producer Edward S. Feldman settled on Sam Elliott for the role of John Ryder. Hauer states that “Apparently, Elliott was so scary when he came in to audition that Edward S. Feldman was afraid to go out to his car afterward.” Sam Elliott had a scheduling conflict and had to back out of the role. (From IMDB)

Rating – BAFTA Worthy (5/10)