Thieves Like Us (1974/DVD-Video)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C     Extras: B-     Film: B-

 

 

One thing the late, great Robert Altman always liked to do was deconstruct film genres and film in general.  It is partly a European influence, partly Kurosawa and partly just his genius in showing what had never been honestly shown before.  His 1974 crime drama Thieves Like Us (1974) is based on material filmed before (Nicholas Ray’s 1948 Noir They Live By Night),  but the other issue is that Arthur Penn’s Bonnie & Clyde (1967) had just happened and as good as the film may be, cannot overcome the shadow of Penn’s classic.

 

Keith Carradine is Bowie, an escaped prisoner on the run with two like thieves arriving in a small town to avoid capture.  Things are quiet at first and Bowie even fall in love with Keechie (Shelley Duvall) who is as smitten with him.  Unfortunately, the law is on the prowl and the lovers are as doomed as anything.  John Schuck, Bert Ramsen, Louise Fletcher, Tom Skerritt, Arch Hall Sr. and Joan Tewkesbury also star.

 

Altman, Tewkesbury and also-amazing Calder Willingham co-wrote the smart, sharp, bold screenplay and that helps make the film as palpable as the locations.  The acting is exceptional all around, but despite a master filmmaker like Altman, the film misses the mark often.  It still has more than enough Altman moments to make it required viewing, but is not his best film.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image was shot by Director of Photography Jean Boffety, with great stylization and a naturalistic look that looks like you have traveled back in time to The Depression.  This transfer may be a bit soft, but so is the film on purpose in some ways.  The DVD does the best it can to capture the film, but it is going to take Blu-ray to do this one well.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is of the original theatrical mono sound and is just fine.  The film is scored with many segments of old radio drama, which works to the films advantage.  As has been noted before, the people are immigrants while the radio programs are trying to convert them to “Americans” in a false homogenizing sense, though you could to a whole essay on that.

 

The only extra is the #1 reason to get this disc, even if you do not like the film and that is the fine audio commentary by the late Altman himself.  It is insightful, informative, very enjoyable and great words form one of the great architects of world cinema.  If you like the film and have not heard it, you are missing a great track.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo