Mr. Majestyk (1974)

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Absolutely Fantastic

Blistering performances.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

"The greatest actor I ever worked with", said the great Sergio Leone. He worked quickly and efficiently. Acted so natural it didn't look like acting. Bronson is wonderful in this very fine movie, although some of the snide reviewers here don't seem to agree. Inexplicably rated at only 6.8 on this site. Ridiculous. Formulaic and predictable ? An opinion that beggars belief. Superb script by Elmore Leonard, a professional, keeps you guessing. I saw nothing predictable about the way the action unrolls. I had no idea what Majestyk would think up next. Entertaining, suspenseful, humorous, in fact deadpan witty. When times are hard, everyone gets Bronson on their side. Even the weasel. He's simply the nemesis that Drexl Spivey had in mind. Bronson is REAL; and Al Lettieri is a terrific bad guy, especially in his handling of the weasel. Their relationship was hilarious.

Especially if the man in question is the great Charles Bronson. The iconic tough guy actor plays the title role, who merely wants to go about his business in peace. And that business is watermelon farming. When Majestyk is arrested for roughing up sleazy, worthless little weasel Bobby Kopas (Paul Koslo), it brings him into contact with syndicate hit man Frank Renda (Al Lettieri). After a series of incidents, Renda comes to utterly despise Majestyk and want him dead.Very capably directed by the versatile Richard Fleischer, "Mr. Majestyk" features an engaging Bronson performance, and a strong supporting cast. The tongue in cheek antics are courtesy of screenwriter Elmore Leonard. Brief bursts of violence and a few action set pieces help to make this watchable, as well as a brilliant music score by Charles Bernstein. Lettieri is an effectively intense antagonist, Linda Cristal has lots of appeal as migrant worker Nancy Chavez, and Koslo is great fun as the pathetic Kopas, although Lee Purcell has an underdeveloped role as Rendas' associate "Wiley". Taylor Lacher, Frank Maxwell, Alejandro Rey, Jordan Rhodes, and Bert Santos are all good as well. Veteran character actor Richard Erdman appears uncredited as attorney Dick Richard.In the end, "Mr. Majestyk" is no great shakes, but is still nicely plotted and solidly entertaining for its duration. For a disposable bit of entertainment, it is quite agreeable.Seven out of 10.

This is the first Charles Bronson movie I have seen, and I expected way worse. Like most action Heroes Charles Bronson is a bit too "cool". I didn't like the main-character of this movie much. Pretty much all other characters in this movie are great though. Especially the gangster are great, convincing and unusual characters. The story isn't that bad either. The first half of the story was something totally new to me. The second half of the story though is totally predictable. But because of the good action the movie stays entertaining the whole way. Also worth mentioning is the great atmosphere and music. This movie is above average action flicks and worth to watch.

Charlie Bronson's a melon farmer who just wants to get his melons in on time, but fate conspires against him. First of all when he arrives at his melon fields with a crew of migrant labour, he finds that a wannabe tough guy has already set a crew of drunks and vagrants to work. Of course, Charlie soon sees him off with his tail between his legs. The pipsqueak reports him to the police, and because there's a gun involved and Charlie has a history, he finds himself locked up with only his anxiety over his melons going mouldy to keep him company.Actually, that's not quite true because while in the cells he comes across the wonderful Al Lettieri as a ruthless hit man. The bus they're in is ambushed by some of Al's men but Charlie turns the situation to his advantage by kidnapping Al and trading him with the police in return for his own freedom.This is a typical seventies crime thriller that lacks any credible storyline and falls back on the kind of violence typical of both the era and Charles Bronson movies in general. It's also a typical example, I suppose, of why Elmore Leonard never really enjoyed the success as a screenwriter as he did as a writer of novels, even though his novels were 80% dialogue for some reason he never seemed able to translate the natural sound of his written dialogue to the screen. Anyway, the violence is quite brutal – and often gratuitous. At one point bad guy Lettieri and his cronies drive into a portable toilet into which one luckless deputy has just entered. Lettieri prevents his comrade from shooting the dazed cop to death, and picks up a plank instead, which he uses to efficiently batter the poor soul to death. 'Make them think he was run over by a truck,' he explains. We don't actually see the act, just Lettieri's face as he dispassionately goes about his work, and for this reason it is probably the most effective moment of the film.Speaking of Lettieri, he's by far the best thing about this film; it's a shame that he would die within a year or two, cut down by a heart attack at the relatively young age of 47. He was just beginning to make a name for himself as a Hollywood heavy, and there's no doubting that, like here, he would have enlivened many an otherwise routine film if he'd had the opportunity. If you like Bronson films you probably won't be disappointed by this one, but it isn't one that most people are likely to remember.