Nicknamed the "King of Cool", Steve McQueen became famous for his anti-hero roles and icy cold demeanor, which made him such a huge hit in action and tough guy movies. One of his biggest hits was The Getaway, an action thriller where he tough-guys his way through the movie with cool confidence. The movie has pounding action and violence and most importantly, is done quite well. It isn't just an action picture though; the story is actually pretty engaging thanks mainly to the lead stars McQueen and Ali MacGraw who remind me a little of Bonnie and Clyde.
Doc McCoy (McQueen) is in the middle of a ten year sentence and is denied parole. The first couple minutes of the film are a montage of prison life and Doc's growing frustrations. The montage does a good job in capturing the monotonous and soul crushing nature of prison life. Not being able to take it any longer, he tells his wife Carol (MacGraw) to go talk to Jack Benyon, a big time businessman, to make a deal to get him out. Benyon gets Doc out on the condition that he do a bank job. Doc does the job but things go awry causing him and Carol to go on the run with the bad guys in hot pursuit.
What is interesting about the film isn't necessarily the plot but the characters. What happens to man and wife after years of separation? Can they ever go back to a normal loving relationship? When Carol goes to see Benyon there is a hint of you-know-what-you-got-to-do-to-get-your-husband-out-of-jail. It's an impossible situation for Carol. On one hand she's told by her husband to get him out by any means, but at what costs? If Doc knew what that really meant, would he still have told her to go to Benyon? And when Doc finally does go free, there is an uneasy tension between him and Carol. Four years is a long time apart. They may be two completely different people now. Does she still even love him? Does she still want him? Has she been faithful this entire time? These are questions that Doc didn't dare to ask while he was still in prison. Now that he is free and sitting next to her in bed, they awkwardly get down to it rather than passionately jump on each other. This uneasiness remains with them throughout the film as they are unsure about their future with each other. But after the robbery they are bound together on the run and forced to stick it out, but will they ever truly be on the same page again? Another interesting relationship in the film is between Rudy, the bad guy chasing Doc in the film, and a woman named Sally, who is drawn to the bad man first out of fear then out of some sort of Stockholm syndrome. They are an interesting pair to contrast with Doc and Carol. I really enjoyed watching the characters interact with each other and that the film dealt with these issues rather than go for the easy lovey-dovey Bonnie and Clyde relationship.
The majority of the film deals with Doc and Carol on the run from both the cops and the bad guys and features nice action sequences throughout. Living on the run, you have to be ready at a minute's notice; one moment you're eating a hamburger, the next you're blasting a shotgun through your window in a high speed pursuit with the cops. The final showdown is particularly satisfying as it is explosive and exciting. The entire film builds up to this moment and it's well worth it.
I've noticed lately that I've strayed away from talking about stuff like direction, cinematography, specific shots and camera angles and such. I feel like the past couple movies haven't been really artsy or noticeable in those regards. It is very possible that I've gotten lazier as those are the hardest things to write about, so I'll try to be more observant so that everything that I write isn't entirely plot related.
Grade: B+
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