Our hero is Lucius a ginger haired 11 year old who is Meredith in his youth. It’s a big day in their small town as the first car to appear there is arriving by train. Local roustabout Boon (Steve McQueen) is most excited and brings along a rose to put in the car’s handy flower holder. The car is owned by Lucius’ Grandfather, known locally as ‘The Boss’. Boon’s role isn’t clear but he washes the car and appears to have free use of it. He shows it off to his black friend Ned who only goes and steals it. Bit of stereotyping there, and Ned can only be grateful that the police aren’t as trigger happy as they are today.
After some mild fighting the two are before the judge who puts a $100 bond on each to ensure their good behaviour. Of course the scofflaws pay no attention and when The Boss is away at a funeral they take the car and head for a big whorehouse in Memphis, where Boon’s girlfriend earns her living. At first it’s only Lucius and Boon on the trip, but Ned stows along for too, discovered just in time to get covered in mud, in a scene that looked like more fun to be in than to watch.
At the most sedate whorehouse you’ll ever see, complete with buttoned up ladies, Lucius gets in a fight and Boon tries to get some loving. His girlfriend is looking at a career change and Ned, who is more trouble than he’s worth, trades the car for a race horse. The trio must win a race with the new horse to get the car back - it‘s almost that they are just inventing scrapes so they can get out of them.
Can they achieve this feat with a slow horse and with novice jockey Lucius? I’d bet on that!
This was a strange film which was 70% Disney schmaltz and halcyon days reminiscing and 30% full on racism and violence. It didn’t hold well together and it was quite jarring when, after a nice bit of driving along and missing out on mild peril someone comes along with talk of lynching’s and ‘n-word’ this and ‘n word’ that. Fair enough the South had plenty of racism going on but choose your genre - child growing up or string them up, you can’t mix ‘Mississippi Burning’ with ‘Hopscotch Girl’.
I didn’t like Steve McQueen much in this - we was obviously the big star but everyone was loving him with there being no evidence at all that they should. He wanders about in his stolen car with a shit eating grin and can do no wrong. As a protagonist he offered nothing and his relationship with the unhappy hooker didn’t ring true at all.
Mitch Vogel as Lucius was no better with his teary tantrums even more annoying than his good manners and wisdom. It was a lot to have to carry the majority of the picture on his shoulders and he struggled with the emotional scenes. He did well in the racing parts, but only because he’s been replaced by a stuntman a foot taller and wider.
Based on a book by William Faulkner you can see they were trying to show a slice of life from more innocent times but the mix was off and the adventures are dull and lacking any real excitement. The big horse race at the end gets run twice and looks daft as they have Giant haystacks playing the fallow youth and doesn’t offer any surprises anyway.
The settings and cinematography were good but this looked like a vanity project for McQueen that forgot to add the vital ingredients of character and plot.
THE Tag Line : Reivers and Weep 52%
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