The Driver

As far back as the silent Keystone Cops series, movies have had car chases. In the late 60s, Bullitt and The French Connection opened the door for a slew of car-chase related movies that continues to this day. Name a halfway decent action movie from the last 30-40 years, and there's a good chance there is a car chase. Who knows what attracts audiences to them? Ridiculously cool cars gunning it across country and through crowded cities just sounds fun.

But with car chases, and I'm not talking racing movies, there are few movies directed to the most important thing in the chase -- the guy behind the wheel. Released in 1978, The Driver just does that, focusing almost completely on the man driving the badass car(s). Director Walter Hill handles a movie that could have been a color film noir movie with the typically cool anti-hero, the femme fatale, and the dedicated, driven cop trying to catch the rebellious main character. It's the type of movie that almost borders on the pretentious with characters addressed as their occupation -- the Driver, the Detective, the Connection -- but pulls back just enough not to be obnoxious.

When a crook/robber/underworld thug is trying to pull off a job, there's one person that can significantly help his chances get away. Everyone knows him simply as the Driver (Ryan O'Neal), the best getaway driver and wheelman around. The police are fully aware of who and what he is, especially the Detective (Bruce Dern), but they're never able to pin any of the crimes on him, and he always gets away to pull off another getaway. But the Detective has been pushed too far so he goes about setting up a trap that even the Driver can't escape from.

The plot is straightforward with little diversions to take away from the heated and on-going battle between the getaway driver and the police officer trying to bring him in. There's a rivalry between the men that O'Neal and Dern pull off perfectly. O'Neal's Driver is quickly aware that he's being set up and still take the job if for nothing else than to prove he can do it, and more importantly he's smarter than a cop. O'Neal isn't a great actor, but playing the strong, silent type works nicely for him. Dern is a scene-stealer (as he usually was) as the slightly crazy detective who will risk anything to catch his rival.

Director Hill clearly knows what he's doing with an often minimalist story that focuses so closely on style over substance, especially with the chase scenes that bookend the movie. The opening as the Driver attempts to escape from the police (watch it HERE) is a great intro as to what type of movie you're about to watch. It also features one of the best endings to a car chase I can remember. The finale -- check it out here with SPOILERS of course -- is even better, combining some great stunt driving with a sometimes unbearable tension as O'Neal drives a souped-up pickup truck chasing down a Firebird.

Watching the chase scenes is easier to appreciate because O'Neal did just enough driving to make it seem believable. Sure, a stunt driver probably did most of it, but the viewer actually sees O'Neal behind the wheel. It sounds simple, but it helps a lot. And one of the reasons I'll always love older movies, no fake-looking CGI could ever replace good old fashioned stunts. In these chase scenes, Hill doesn't mess around with a loud blaring soundtrack that tells you how to feel. Just like Bullitt, The Driver's chase scenes are almost silent other than the sounds of the engines chugging along trying to outdo each other. Definitely some of the best car chases around because they don't mess with the formula. Simple, straightforward and exciting.

With the rest of the cast, a few names jump out but it's O'Neal and Dern's movie to win or lose. Isabelle Adjani is the Player, a young woman in desperate need of money who provides an alibi for the Driver after the opening getaway. If there was a love interest, Adjani would be it, but the story doesn't have time to waste with a love story. Ronee Blakley is the Connection, the woman who sets the Driver up with jobs and seems to have some sort of past with him but that could be me overanalyzing. Felice Orlandi and Matt Clark are two of Dern's fellow detectives working the case and Joseph Walsh and Rudy Ramos are Glasses and Teeth, two crooks who need the Driver's services.

A quasi-existential chase movie that's a lot of fun to watch, especially for any fans of car chases in the vein of Bullitt, The French Connection, and Two-Lane Blacktop. Stars Ryan O'Neal and Bruce Dern look to be having a good time making it, and director Walter Hill turns in a taut, exciting story dominated by car chases at either end of the movie. Car junkies shouldn't miss this one.

The Driver <----trailer (1978): ***/****