Steve McQueen’s last movie isn’t as bad as I’d been led to believe. It’s not in the same league as some of the great films that helped establish him as the king of cool but as last movies go, The Hunter is at least on a par with that other tough guy swan song, The Shootist.
Actually, there are a few similarities there as Steve McQueen sets out to knowingly mock (and in doing so also celebrate) his movie tough guy image just as John Wayne did but I was also reminded of Elliot Gould’s Philip Marlowe. McQueen’s character, real life bounty hunter Ralph “Papa” Thorson, is also a throwback, a man out of time in 1970s LA just as Chandler‘s detective was in The Long Goodbye.
McQueen give a great performance despite what feels like a made-for-TV script. What really makes the movie worth watching, besides his reliably watchable presence, are some brilliant action set pieces as he chases down various bail jumpin’, law breakin’ types, from misunderstood misdemeanourers to out and out psychos.
There is a fantastic scene where a couple of dynamite lovin’ rednecks steal his Trans Am and he chases them through a cornfield in a combine harvester. Even better though is an epic chase over the rooftops, L-train and snd subway of Chicago, culminating in multi-storey car chase.
I came to see Steve McQueen but I stayed for the stunts.