Thunder Road

Buy This Item Thunder Road by United Artists  Available from Amazon  $9.99  on 11-27-2008     Transporting illegal alcohol over dark two-lane mountain highways, Lucas Doolin (Robert Mitchum) races wildly through the night, crashing road blocks and outrunning ambushes, defying anyone who triesto stop him. A man has a right to do anything, he says, including making whiskey, as long as he makes it on his own land. But when ruthless racketeers muscle in on Doolin's territoryand kill one of his men in the processthe Kentucky bootlegger declares war, fiercely determined to maintainhis hard-won business and independenceeven if it costs him his life. Boasting breathtaking auto chase scenes (The Film Daily) and a superb performance from Robert Mitchum, Thunder Road is breathtaking excitementthe most exhilarating road thriller of them all. Reader Reviews Not the smoothest anti-hero flick ever produced, but sits on a ledge somewhere between film noir and B-movie standards. No sense adding a content rating to those already posted here, as this is a movie you either like or don't. While Mitchum and his crew did get into a bit of research to add a touch of authentication to this movie, a few gaffs stand out. First, it's apparent that neither Mitchum nor his writers ever spent time in Memphis in the late 1950's. The film has a car chase sequence that supposedly occurs in downtown Memphis on State Street; State Street in Memphis is in a residential area a long way from downtown and is only a block long. Keely Smith does a bit as a jazz singer in a type of club that didn't exist in Memphis in the 50's. Because of strictly enforced blue laws no one could buy a mixed drink in Memphis until 1972. In 1958 if you wanted to drink booze or wine or anything stiffer than 3.2 beer or Pepsi in a Memphis establishment, you brought your own bottle in a brown bag and a bartender kept it at the bar until you left. The outdoor shots and other elements of the movie might make you think Tennessee is "in the hills", but in fact southwest Tennessee is almost as flat as Kansas. The outdoor scenes have a conspicuous lack of pine, poplar, and magnolia that are replete in that part of the Mississippi Delta. There are many other anomolies present in the flick but this is, after all, a fantasy with a certain mystique and cult status that's difficult to put down. The real problem is that the depth of sleaze so dominant in the real-life characters this movie attempts to portray is almost entirely absent. The gals are way too clean-cut, the locals are too well-spoken and articulate, and nobody seems to have a valid Southern accent (except Keely, whose accent seems to be from Texas or western Arkansas and is probably the most "authentic" touch in the movie). So if you're eager to get some enjoyment out of this flick without spending 93 minutes scoffing and laughing, a willing suspension of disbelief is definitely required. Otherwise, I have no idea where these 5-star ratings are coming from.

Thunder Road Available from Amazon Price: $9.99 Updated on 11-27-2008.

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