Thunderbolt and Lightfoot * * * * *Directed by: Michael Cimino / 1974
The name might throw some people off into the "Cowboys and Indians" department. So might trying to label it into a specific genre. It’s an action movie…no wait, it’s a buddy movie…no wait, it’s a road movie…no wait, it’s a muscle car movie…no wait, it’s an outrageous comedy…no wait, it’s a gangster movie… no wait, there is a giant military gun…no wait, it’s a heist movie …no wait, it’s a fantastic movie and it’s a shame that filmmaker Michael Cimino has all but been banished from Hollywood since “Heaven’s Gate”! Cimino is under appreciated (well, except for “The Deer Hunter”, which is my least favorite of his three I’ve seen) and so is his “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot” as it’s another mini-masterpiece film gem of the 1970s. In all honestly, the movie shouldn’t have worked and I should have been groaning, but I had a grin on my face from start to finish. I was thoroughly engrossed in this wild ride starring a very-very cool Clint Eastwood and a very-very young and pre“ Dude” Jeff Bridges, who was nominated for an Oscar in a supporting role. In many ways I can see it as a touchstone for the Coen Brothers’ obtuse comedies as “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot” is really hard to pin, other than it’s a fantastic movie from a director who should be a major-major player now if Hollywood would come to their senses with “Heaven’s Gate”. -djg
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