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A man can drive cars real good. According to this movie, that is a heroic act.
Starring Jeff Bridges, Valerie Perrine, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Gary Busey
Written by William Roberts, William Kerby
Produced by William Roberts, John Cutts
Duration 95 minutes
If I had been born with the surname 'American', which movies would I be reviewing for this blog?
Let's see, there's American ULTRA, GANGSTER, PIE (plus sequels), GRAFFITI, SNIPER, HUSTLER, BEAUTY, PSYCHO, DREAMZ, BUFFALO, HAUNTING, WET HOT SUMMER, GIGOLO, HISTORY X, NINJA (plus sequels), PRESIDENT, SPLENDOR ...
Or what about 'America' instead? I wonder if former Ugly Betty star America Ferrera needs a hobby? She could line up things like COMING TO AMERICA, MADE IN AMERICA, ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA ...
Of course, when a movie has a title like THE LAST AMERICAN HERO, using both 'last' and 'American', the point is moot. It's even happened once already.
One thing to get out the way is I don't approve of our current normalisation of the word 'hero', either in society or in movies. It's like the abuse of the word 'awesome'. Sunsets are awesome, the unfathomable hugeness of the universe is awesome. A new range of McDonald's burgers is not awesome. Neither is Jack Black voicing a panda who learns kung-fu.
So, how is this movie using the word 'hero'? Is it sincere or is it sarcastic? Maybe it dodges the issue
altogether?
Well, I can sum up its position in a word: driving. We open with Jeff Bridges driving – fast. Hurtling from the police like he's robbed a bank, but actually just because he likes to go very fast and since he's being chased is accelerating even faster to escape. Jeff's heading home to his cranky mama; he also has a brother, who's played by a young Gary Busey (aged 29; Bridges was a mere pup at 24). And right after pulling up at their ramshackle shack, having successfully outmaneuvered the copper, he's chirping at his family about 'supercharging' the thing that enables his driving: his car.
Now, I am not a car person. If heroism is going to be attributed to the ability to successfully manipulate an automobile, then I am unlikely to be impressed. And so it follows that I was not.
Next, there's driving. Yes, driving – more driving. And skidding! Though the woods, away from another cop car, at dusk (I think - it could have just been poorly lit). Jeff driving really fast while singing along to country music. There's more bloody driving even than in Bridges' other car movie, Francis Ford Coppola's TUCKER: THE MAN AND HIS DREAM. Vroom-vroom.
Now, THE LAST AMERICAN HERO is based on an article by Tom Wolfe, about real-life speed-freak Junior Jackson. It was Wolfe who dubbed Jackson an 'American hero'. (Although it could have been a hyperbolic sub-editor.) And having now sat through the whole film, I'm still struggling to pin down what it is that makes this brash moron a hero, however thin the definition of the word may be today.
Beyond the automobile action, there is a plot. Jackson's papa gets banged up for distilling moonshine. Junior then stumbles into supporting the family with his four-wheeled talents: first in a demolition derby, then by winning races against other cars going around in a big circle while spectators stand on the roofs of their trailers hollering, formally known as NASCAR.
Look, it's
definitely good that he goes off to earn money for the family, what with their breadwinner locked up and all. But wouldn't it have helped even more if he'd already been gainfully employed before disaster struck? I do think that heroism takes a little more
than supporting your loved ones with your income. That's just called
'earning a living' and 'being a responsible adult'.
But actual displays of heroism? I was kept waiting. Would he drive his car into a burning building to rescue the inhabitants? Would he donate his winnings to rebuild an orphanage that was bombed during a genocide?
No. Nothing like that. He just wins a couple of races.
It's strange seeing actors like Bridges and Busey, now so firmly ingrained as cranky old guys, as 20-somethings. Then again, some actors seem like they were never young in the first place: your Gene Hackmans and Morgan Freemans and Lance Henricksens. But beyond that mild point of interest, and a few amusing putdowns uttered by Junior to various dimwitted hicks (usually prefixed or suffixed with the word 'boy'), THE LAST AMERICAN SO-CALLED HERO never gripped me – or, I guess I should say, got under my bonnet or injected my fuel or ... whatever.
And as far as movies based on magazine articles go, I prefer TOP GUN, BOOGIE NIGHTS, DOG DAY AFTERNOON, THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS, THE INSIDER ... Even THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES (also from the writings of Tom Wolfe) boasted one of those great extended Brian de Palma takes.
Two stars out of five.
Valid use of the
word ‘last’? Hard to quantify, since I'm disputing the
use of the word 'hero' altogether.
What would a movie called THE FIRST AMERICAN HERO be about? George Washington?
Previously: HITLER: THE LAST TEN DAYS
Next time: THE LAST SHIFT
Check out my books: Jonathanlastauthor.com
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