There are some films that miss whatever target they are aiming for yet somehow are just great fun to watch. Malone, a fairly obvious updating of Shane, reaches deeply in to the duffers bag of clichés to pull out; the burnt out assassin, the beautiful former colleague, cute teenage girl and her brave but crippled father and, of course, a nutter who along with his evil henchmen are bent on taking over the government. Starting with the most inept of the baddie's henchmen Malone is gradually drawn in to the fight until he achieves his final pyrrhic victory and moves on. Burt Reynolds is actually not a bad actor when he's not trying to be 'a good old boy' all the time. Cliff Roberstson goes jarringly over the top. Laurren Hutton is beautiful, brave and loyal. Cynthia Gib is cute as apple pie in a see-through nightie and the much miss-used Scott Wilson does exactly what he needs to do. So why is this not a good movie? Dunno. There is nothing obviously wrong with the film. It doesn't look cheap, everyone hits their marks and speaks the lines. The end is a bit over the top and perhaps people were reluctant to let Burt Reynolds be serious. Never mind, I've added it to my list of films to be watch every time they turn up in the schedule and I guess I'll just continue to enjoy it for what it is, a good bad movie.
