"You stick with me kid, you're gonna live forever!"
Michael Cimino got his start directing Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974). An ambling, engaging thriller, it's equal parts buddy film, heist flick and scenic road trip.Hippie drifter Lightfoot (Jeff Bridges) rescues bank robber Thunderbolt (Clint Eastwood) from an assassin. The two crooks bond as they evade Thunderbolt's ex-partners, Red (George Kennedy) and Eddie (Geoffrey Lewis). Eventually they reach an uneasy truce; Thunderbolt persuades Red and Eddie to join him and Thunderbolt in a high-caliber robbery.
It's amazing how laid-back Thunderbolt feels. Cimino and photographer Frank Stanley showcase gorgeous Montana locations, lingering on wheat fields, mountain ranges and streams. The narrative often stops for silly vignettes, allowing our protagonists to bond and trade terse quips ("Drop your cocks and reach for your socks!"). Crisp action provides a jolt: the opening, with a gunman chasing Thunderbolt across a field; the darkly comic heist and subsequent car chase.
Between shootouts and scenery, Thunderbolt is a macho romance beyond Howard Hawks' wildest dreams. Thunderbolt's masculinity contrasts with Lightfoot's breezy ambiguity; where Thunderbolt impersonates a priest, Lightfoot cross-dresses to escape detection. Being Clint Eastwood, Thunderbolt asserts his manliness by swapping a Magnum for an Oerlikon and bedding multiple women. Their mismatched personalities makes their bond more compelling.
This contrasts with Red and Eddie's dysfunctional relationship. Cimino paints them as ridiculous and impotent. Preparing for the heist, Red and Eddie sell ice cream, humiliated by a smart-mouthed tyke ("Hey kid, go fuck a duck!"). While Thunderbolt and Lightfoot score with chicks, Red's reduced to watching copulating hostages and enduring Lightfoot's kisses. Red sells out Eddie in crunch time, while our heroes remain soul mates to the end.
Clint Eastwood relaxes his steeliness with uncommon humor; rarely has he seemed more easy-going. Jeff Bridges's footloose charm complements Eastwood perfectly. George Kennedy's villainy and Geoffrey Lewis's cracked-brain bumbling provide comic counterpoint. Thunderbolt's riddled with amusing character turns: Gary Busey as a hick welder, Bill McKinney a wacko redneck, Roy Jenson an assassin, Dub Taylor a raving gas station attendant.
Aside from the expansive photography, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot shows little sign of the Michael Cimino who became screen excess's poster boy. Not burdened with auteurist pretensions, Cimino focuses on telling a fun story.
