Action-filled crime-drama, expertly assembled by director Sam Peckinpah and screenwriter Walter Hill, adapting Jim Thompson's novel, has Steve McQueen's incarcerated "Doc" McCoy asking his pretty wife to use her feminine wiles with a corrupt Texas parole board member in getting him released; it works, on the condition that Doc partner with two of the businessman's henchman in robbing a neighborhood bank--but things don't go as planned. After a brilliantly designed and edited prologue with McQueen doing time behind bars, this heist flick becomes more routine, with noisy gunfire and police sirens and cars smashing and crashing into everything. McQueen holds the screen with his charismatic, laconic presence, but Ali MacGraw is little more than window dressing (and when she is required to emote, she's open-mouthed and vacuous); taken together, they're not an overly exciting or interesting pair. Subplot with hostage Sally Struthers is mean and nasty, and Peckinpah's florid handling is undeniably potent and gripping. Quincy Jones' score (added at the 11th hour) and Lucien Ballard's cinematography are also first-rate. *** from ****
Review of The Getaway
