Sunday 2 February 2014

Country Blue (1973)






The main problem with Country Blue ... other than the uneven acting, sometimes lethargic pace, and occasionally inaudible dialogue ... is that it's a movie about such fundamentally unlikeable characters. Lead character Bobby Lee (possibly a reference to Robert E Lee) Dixon is an extremely stupid young man with a chip on his shoulder and ambitions of being a bank robber. Freshly released from jail for knocking over a convenience store, he plans to rob a bank and abscond to Mexico with his girlfriend.

The bank robbery doesn't go all that well, turning up only $1500, and the escape attempt leaves the ersatz Bonnie and Clyde back in their home town, where they grab another car and set off once more. Bobby robs a gas station, and then the two of them stop by a lake for an extended nookie session. Way to be on the run, guys. Discovering that the manager of the bank tricked them about how much money was on the premises, Bobby insists on heading back to rob the place again, rather than continuing to Mexico as originally planned. As you might imagine, this doesn't go so well.

At the end of this overly-long (108 minute) film, I was left wondering why I was supposed to care about the characters. It's not like they had any redeeming features. If the film was more obviously meant to be a farce, or a comedy of any kind, then it might have made more sense as it would mean you're supposed to laugh at them, but that does not appear to be the case.

An odd film, indeed.

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