Bad Company

The western has proven to be a particularly durable genre, waxing and waning in popularity, shifting from the big screen to the small screen and back again, but always cleverly absorbing the issues and concerns of the era in which each film was made.  Counter culture and the political aftereffects of the Vietnam War - coinciding with the rise of auteur filmmaking in the ‘70s – produced number of interesting permutations.  So after the anti-establishment success of Bonnie and Clyde, co-writers Robert Benton and David Newman teamed up again for Bad Company (1972) with Benton elevated into the director’s chair for the first time.  

Draft dodger Drew Dixon (Barry Brown) is on the run from the civil war, headed west with a boot full of his parent’s money and a holier-than-thou attitude.  His first rude awakening comes at the hands of Jake Rumsey (Jeff Bridges), a deserter headed west himself with a cadre of young companions, who robs him right on the street. But the two find a grudging respect for one another and team up to try for Virginia City.  Enthusiastic but tragically inexperienced, the group quickly realizes not everyone will make the journey…and that the American Dream isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

 

A road movie at heart that fits comfortably with similar ‘70s depression-era films, Bad Company is episodic in nature and uneven in tone.  Benton, who would later direct Kramer vs. Kramer and Places in the Heart, seems a little unsteady out of the gate, waffling between light comedy and grim political commentary. His view of America’s wasted youth is spelled out from the very first shot with teen boys disguised as women corralled by soldiers in traveling prison cars.  Draft dodging was, if not patriotic, at least an understandable protest for a country suffering civil war …or, in the case of 1972, a country on the cusp of one.  But Benton only uses that as a jumping point to explore the idea of male friendship and camaraderie that seems to sour as the world at large chips away.

 

Shot by legendary DP Gordon Willis (The Godfather), Bad Company is always pretty to look at, even when it’s not.  With cold, empty landscapes and leafless trees, this is a view of the west as a wasteland where only the cruel survive.  Bridges delivers another star-making turn but he’s aided and abetted by a lot of familiar faces who know their way around a western, including David Huddleston, Geoffrey Lewis and Jim Davis.  The worldthe movie creates is more convincing than its politics.  Benton seems to be hedging his bets between a thoughtful, artistic approach and the box office potential of a young Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  Either way, it deserves a second look.

 

And that’s exactly what Fun City Editions gives you with its new Blu-ray premiere, restored in 4K from its original 35mm camera negative.  Along with a beautiful transfer that retains all that lovely ‘70s grain, extras include liner notes and an audio commentary by critic Walter Chaw. 

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