Review: Bullitt

     I like Steve McQueen. He just oozes coolness. He's so cool that he plays what's pretty much the only American in The Great Escape (my favorite movie) which is otherwise a film entirely made by and starring british actors, and he is in it because he is such a cool American actor that by putting him in the movie the film was popular among American audiences. It is because I was such a fan of McQueen in The Great Escape that I had such high hopes for his other well known film, Bullitt. Unfortunately, I have to say that I was let down. While McQueen himself was as cool as he always is, I found the film itself to be otherwise lacking.

     Taking place in 1968 San Francisco, Bullitt tells the story of Frank Bullitt (McQueen) a police lieutenant assigned with protecting a key witness, Johnny Ross, brother of Chicago crime kingpin Pete Ross. An ambitious politician named Walter Chalmers is bringing in Johnny Ross to a Senate subcommittee hearing on organized crime in order to improve his political standing. Ross is under police custody because he just stole $2 million from the mob and they're out to get him. While other policemen are on watch, a pair of hitmen break into Ross's hotel room and shoot him. Bullitt wants to investigate the men who shot Ross, but pressure it put on him when Chalmers tries to pin the blame for Ross's murder on him. 

     

     The most iconic scene this film is an extended car chase through the streets of San Francisco with McQueen in his now immortal green Ford Mustang. The chase is really well done, as the cars race over the hills of the city and bounce through intersections, there is a real sense of danger. The fact that McQueen did all of his own driving for the entirety of the movie adds some real authenticity to the chase. However, while this scene is very appealing visually, it doesn't manage to achieve peak dramatic tension due to a lack of score. Instead we are simply treated to the sounds of revving engines and squealing tires. This is a complaint that I have for much of the film. When there is a score, which is occasionally, it's some cool jazz, even including an extended jazz flute scene that likely inspired Ron 

This is what Bullitt was missing

Burgundy's solo in Anchorman. However, for most of the film there is no score whatsoever, and this only serves to highlight the films glacial pacing. While I realize that this was the style at the time (it reminded me of other films of that era such as The Andromeda Strain and The French Connection), I didn't find that it held up by today's standards, especially given this movies dependence on action and chase sequences. Another detraction from this movie is Bullitt's girlfriend, Cathy. While she is a treat for the eyes, everything she says hurts the direction the film is trying to go in. She gives one speech at about the middle of the film that takes the movie about five minutes to recover from. I do have to give credit to the film for being very accurate in it's depiction of the police work involved in a criminal investigation as well for it's progressive decision to have an african-american actor play a doctor in the film, a pretty bold decision for 1968. However, these factors simply weren't enough to overcome the flaws that this film had. While it was a solid and involving plot, the execution left something to be desired as the film contained some questionable cinematography along with the aforementioned problems with the score. If Steve McQueen wasn't in this movie, it would have been a total waste.

Sex on wheels

Rating: 5/10 - Amoral