In 1972, critics were so offended by the violence of this film (they were easily offended, back then), that they almost wholly missed the film's humanistic message - which is strange, because I doubt a film could state a theme more explicitly without getting didactic. If this films evades such lecturing - and it does - it is largely due to the exceptional understated performance of Lee Marvin; I didn't think anyone could wear white loafers and still look cool, but Marvin pulls it off. His utterly deadpan approach underscores his character's rapid responses to crisis situations - a truly dangerous man because no one expects him to be dangerous, he just looks cool. Michael Ritchie's direction is also noteworthy; he uses some strategies that also appear understated, thus giving the film a grittier feeling than one might expect from its MidWest locale. And there are some risky editing gambits (like the combine-car collision sequence) that, even when not totally successful, are efforts to be respected exactly for the risk undertaken. There are some drawbacks to the film - the ending (which I won't reveal) is entirely of its era, and a little embarrassing now; Gene Hackman's performance is a throwaway, when it needs to be as confrontational as Marvin's is cool; but the weakest point of the film is its sense of history: This script wanted to be a period piece set in the 1930s; the criminal underworld which these characters inhabit was a victim of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre (which put an end to the Irish mob in Chicago). To get a feel of the film that screenwriter Dillon really wanted to make, see "Road to Perdition". BUt taken on its own terms, and allowing that it is a genre film (and never pretends otherwise, really), this is a highly entertaining gangster film, with a grand performance by Lee Marvin.
