Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974)

Directed by Michael Cimino. Starring Clint Eastwood, Jeff Bridges, George Kennedy, Geoffrey Lewis, Catherine Bach, Jack Dodson, Roy Jenson, June Fairchild, Gary Busey, Burton Gilliam, Vic Tayback, Bill McKinney. [R]

Bank robber Eastwood and rowdy delinquent Bridges hit the road together, with Eastwood’s old partners in pursuit under the belief that he double-crossed them. Eventually, the pair become a quartet (with Kennedy and Lewis), and they plan to restage a nearly identical heist at the exact same location! Offbeat crime/road picture, sometimes strange and lighthearted, sometimes brutal and tragic; the fluctuating tones and fragmented episodes make it a sum-of-its-parts feature that never really comes together. The relationship between the leads suffers the most from this unevenness, but they’re good individually (Bridges even scored an Oscar nod), and there are enough fine vignettes to make it worthwhile, including the caper and getaway. But someone needs to tell Clint to stop picking up those bunnies by the ears! Claudia Lennear makes a brief but memorable appearance as a secretary. Cimino’s directorial debut.

65/100