Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974)

An Exercise In Nonsense

Admirable film.

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

One of the more enjoyable and bankable genres are heist films. And, if you think about it, there have been some truly memorable and amazing films in the genre as well, such as "Rififi", "Dog Day Afternoon", "Grand Slam" and the original "Oceans Eleven". However, "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" has some things going for it that make it different...in good ways as well as bad. As for the good, there's more story and it's not just about a robbery....so you see more character development. But on the bad, no one is anyone you can like or really care about...something you really NEED in order to make a great caper flick.The biggest reason I wanted to see the film is because I'd only seen one tiny portion...the bunny scene. It's amazing...it's awful...and it's kinda funny...but in a sick way! See the movie...you'll see what I mean!Also, according to IMDB Clint Eastwood felt he deserved an Oscar nomination since his co-star, Jeff Bridges, received one. I would beg to differ. Eastwood is fine but essentially plays his usual tight-lipped character and isn't much of a stretch. I am not saying he is not capable of great performances...this just isn't one of the better ones (like "Grand Torino").

Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges made a good film with "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot." Both actors compliment each other as the personalities of their respective characters are totally different but are united in the pursuit of crime. Neither man is exactly evil or sadistic but they are both thoroughly dishonest. Geoffrey Lewis and George Kennedy are brilliant as the hoods who are recruited by Eastwood and Bridges in their criminal masterplan. There is some humour in this film which works well. There is some action but the ending proves to be slightly downbeat. A very worthy film all round.

Before making his directorial debut in 1974, American director Michael Cimino had already written two films 'Silent Running' and 'Magnum Force'. The experience of writing these big budget films proved much too beneficial for him. It is with perfect ease that Michael Cimino has been able to mix crime, comedy and drama in his film. These three elements have been merged with beautiful locales to give the film the looks of a complete entertainer. As a film 'Thunderbolt and Lightfoot' pays excellent homage to the notion of friendship built on admiration and mutual trust. It is a friendship which builds over a period of time as both friends are able to ascertain their strengths and weaknesses. Actors Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges are this film's friends in question. Apart from admiring each other for unique personalities, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot are also involved in the quest for finding hidden money. It is through a series of hilarious adventures filled with comedy, melodrama and violence that they are able to achieve coveted success. However, it is said time and again that there is a price to be paid for every success. This is the most important lesson one learns from this highly entertaining film.

"Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" was Michael Cimino's first film as a director and to me it is one of the best heist movies that I have ever seen and perhaps the most entertaining movies of the genre. The movie stars Clint Eastwood as a bank robber named Thunderbolt who in the first scene we believe to be a preacher but his mass gets interrupted when shots get fired and he ends up escaping the scene, after the shooting he ends up meeting a young man named Lightfoot (played by Jeff Bridges in an Oscar nominated performance) and start a friendship with one another and they are on their way to Warsaw, Montana to look for a one room schoolhouse for some money that hasn't been found, and they end up going to the wrong school whilst assuming that the one room schoolhouse was torn down while getting some ice cream. Then after the ice cream they go into their car and almost get killed again by the same people who tried to before whose names are Red Leary (played by George Kennedy) and Eddie Goody (played by the late Geoffrey Lewis) who then all of them become friends and plan a bank robbery and it ends up being mostly a success and somewhat isn't and I won't give away any details in case people haven't seen the film. In the ending Thunderbolt and Lightfoot find the old one room schoolhouse moved to a different area in Warsaw, Montana and end up finding the money behind a chalkboard. This was a heist movie experience about a friendship between four central characters more than an actual heist itself.