The Sugarland Express

Starring: Goldie Hawn, Ben Johnson, Michael Sacks, William Atherton, Gregory Walcott, Steve Kanaly, Louise Latham
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Rating: PG
Genre: Drama
1974

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A woman (Goldie Hawn) breaks her husband (William Atherton) out of prison to get their son back from the state. Things quickly go wrong and they take a police officer (Michael Sacks) hostage.

Review:

Tim: I was really intrigued to watch The Sugarland Express, Steven Spielberg's theatrical feature film directorial debut (whew). This was obviously an early-career film for him and I was curious to see how much of his later genius would show up. I enjoyed Duel, which predated this film by three years. I was a bit surprised I didn't enjoy this movie more. Sure, it's a perfectly decent film, but I was surprised by how many flaws it had.

The film is based on a true story, although the expected creative liberties were taken to make the film more entertaining. I was fine with this- it's not like the people involved in the real incident were especially important (they are criminals, obviously), so I appreciated the attempts to make the story better. It's a little hard to believe this happened, but the fictionalized aspects certainly contribute to this. The story is straightforward and simple- a couple take a police officer hostage and engage in a slow car chase. They are pursued by dozens of police cars, but the cops can't make a move because one of their own is being threatened. It's a somewhat original plot for a film, although it doesn't always feel like that. The movie feels like a road trip movie combined with a "criminals fleeing the police" film. It's fine, but it's not overly exciting. This aspect of the film works more often than it doesn't.

The biggest issue with the film that Spielberg doesn't spend enough time with the characters. The two main characters aren't very memorable. Truly, I can't even remember their names. I'm not sure I ever really knew them. The way these characters are portrayed, there's almost no reason for us to care about them. First off, they are incredibly stupid people who make a serious of bad decisions in the film. All of this should and could have been avoided with any intelligence at all. This isn't Bonnie and Clyde or Thelma and Louise- we watch two stupid criminals make stupid decisions. Their entire plan is so idiotic, there's no question in our minds that it'll never work. Why did Spielberg think we'd be interested in watching these two? Taking this further, I wasn't overly impressed with Goldie Hawn or William Atherton. Hawn so easily slips into being annoying. She gets on your nerves. It's been a while since I've seen a more grating performance. Atherton was fine, but he's a sheep and it's annoying to see him blindly follow his wife into worse and worse situations. We never fully connect with Atherton.

Ben Johnson gave a good performance and it was slightly easier to connect with him, although he made some questionable decisions as well. Michael Sacks was decent as the kidnapped police officer who starts to have a bit of Stockholm Syndrome. Even with these two, the cast as a whole is only average.

Now, The Sugarland Express is a perfectly decent film. It's interesting to watch a long, slow car chase. There's a few exciting moments and unexpected developments. You see glimmers of Spielberg's ability to entertain audiences. However, the characters at the heart of the story never fully work. It undermines any of the explosions or car flips that get our hearts pumping. The result is a movie that never fully manages to grab your attention. I felt bored or disengaged for several stretches of the film. As a whole, it's a mildly diverting film, but it's far too flawed. It's a good thing Spielberg followed this up with Jaws, because that film changed the trajectory of his career. This movie didn't point him in a very good direction.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Duel, Thelma & Louise