Review 158
Rolling Thunder (1977)
Hey guys! Long time no see... I am dead sure I wrote a review for Re-Animator, but apparently I deleted it - or it somehow was deleted. So I'll dedicate this little space to Stuart Gordon's Re-Animator and From Beyond, both starring Jeffrey Combs (he is just great) and Barbara Crampton (her character's stupidity and good looks are what get the film going). They're great films, absolutely hilarious, and both deserve a little spot in your memory.
Today, though, we're going to discuss a more serious film, John Flynn's Rolling Thunder, starring William Devane and Tommy Lee Jones (damn, he was young!). We'll dive straight into this review since I have some work to get done, but I wanted to make sure I had a review in for February.
Major Charles Rane (William Devane) of the US Air Force and Sergeant Johnny Vohden (Tommy Lee Jones) of the US Army are finally returning home after being kept as prisoners of war (POWs) for seven years in Vietnam during their service. Upon returning home, Charles finds out his wife believed he was dead and is engaged to another man - with the hopes of marrying him after a divorce is settled. His son doesn't remember him, feeling closer to his mom's fiancé than to him. His town gives him meaningless gifts, including a box of silver dollars for each day he was a prisoner of war. The only element of his life keeping him together is the promise that he will not lose his son. However, when a burglary leads him to lose his hand and his wife and son dead, Charles will stop at nothing to destroy the men who killed his son.
Guys, I loved this movie. After a couple of attempts at watching some revenge films which just lacked proper revenge (Blue Ruin and The Shooting being the two), Rolling Thunder completely delivered. Let's see why in depth.
The characters in this movie are just great, with great acting. Everything sets up to bring our protagonist to the end of his rope when he returns, but he somehow keeps going. You see the reality that he comes back nearly dead inside after going through such traumatic events in war from an enemy, how all the gifts and recognitions he receives from San Antonio, Texas are completely wasted on him. However, his son is his one will to live. He doesn't hate on Cliff, played by Lawrason Driscoll, for taking his wife from him, but the moment Cliff attempts to buddy-up with his son, he's ready to pounce. I love how the characters don't bullshit on this. Cliff speaks to Charles about the matter, his wife is open to him about what happened the day he returns, his son feels awkward around him, but nonetheless, sees him as his father. However, when the bandits come to steal the silver coins he had received as a gift and shoot his son and wife, you don't get the full glance at his anger until later, and it's done in a clever way with cigarettes (you'll understand once you watch the movie). William Devane plays a great man suffering inside as a post-war veteran, with Lisa Richards as the wife and Jordan Gerler as the son playing their parts well. I also loved the character Linda Forchet, played by Linda Haynes, who is an admirer from afar of the major, but I'll let you watch the film to enjoy her character.
Otherwise, with great characters, we have great plot. As I mentioned briefly, the "no-bullshit" of hiding what is happening from Charles is great. In Brothers, for example, the whole climax comes when Tobey Maguire's character comes back from war after being held as a POW, not knowing that his wife thought he was dead and proceeded to sleep with his brother, played by Jake Gyllenhaal. Everything is a secret until one of his daughters basically calls him shit compared to his brother, leading Tobey Maguire to go insane. It's very Hollywood-ish and bright lights with all the lying and deception until they finally tell him and smashes the house. This doesn't happen in Rolling Thunder. Everyone is straight-forward with what is happening, except Charles keeps his secrets hidden until it blows. I like that. While I liked Brothers when I saw it (when it came out, so take that with a grain of salt since things have changed since then), I didn't like Tobey Maguire's character and I thought the overall ending was crap. It just didn't fit and was way too Hollywood. Rolling Thunder does it closer to home - you really feel the characters. Apart from that, the film just goes about the revenge in an interesting manner, with failed love and... Okay, I'll stop here. I don't want to ruin the rest of the film since that's when everything gets juicy (this is also why I haven't talked about the burglars very much). Just take my word for it that it's pretty good - and yes, Tommy Lee Jones' character does make a (rather important) appearance again.
The reflection of post-Vietnam war America in Rolling Thunder is just great. The examination of the culture of America and the self of Americans are also prominent in the film, something I really appreciated and are what will really make this film last with me. I'd be down to give it another watch in fact, to really let things set in - though granted, I'm writing this review at least two weeks after watching it, so I remember more the feelings than I do the little details. Still, that's what lasts, isn't it?
Rolling Thunder really is a great film. It's heart-wrenching and hard to swallow, but the characters, plot, and revenge just make it one film you shouldn't skip. By the way, if you still aren't convinced, Paul Schrader, one of the writers of the screenplay for Rolling Thunder, also wrote the screenplay for Taxi Driver and Raging Bull. That's what we're getting into guys. Have a good night!
