Moving Violation (1976)

You won't be disappointed!

Too much of everything

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Pretty-boy hitchhiker and a small town waitress witness a shooting between the redneck sheriff and his deputy; they take it on the lam, with the crooked law in hot pursuit. Everything in "Moving Violation" seems misplaced: the actors, the milieu, the music. Despite a screenplay by David Osterhout and the estimable William Norton--plus a potentially strong cast of actors including sexy Kay Lenz and Eddie Albert as a lawyer--this shoestring production from Roger and Julie Corman gets off on the wrong foot and never finds its balance. Leading man Stephen McHattie blithely zips through the whole abysmal shebang on cruise-control, emitting no discernible sparks. * from ****

In the 1970s, just about nobody understood the drive-in audience like movie producer Roger Corman. So it should come as no surprise that several times in the 1970s, major Hollywood movie studios hired Corman to make drive-in movies for them. "Moving Violation" was one of those movies, but despite the resources of a major studio at hand, it isn't very successful for the most part. The movie does look slicker and more expensive than Corman's independent movies of the time, but not by much. There's almost no effort in writing a story or characters with depth - we don't even learn the name of one of the lovers before the two of them go on the run! As a result, the actors for the most part aren't able to do much with their characters, though Eddie Albert does shine in his somewhat brief role. As for action sequences, it's mostly car chases done in standard mode, so they lack excitement. If you're desperate, this may help 91 or so minutes to pass by, but even then you might wonder if this is a good way to use your time.

This is a typical 1970s car chase movie (Eat My Dust, A Small Town in Texas, Vanishing Point, etc.). You might think movies like that aren't worth watching, but they're better than 80% of the stuff they call movies today. This movie shows an airbag being deployed back before airbags became standard in cars. It's a public service movie! And you get to see the top ripped off a car back before Buford T. Justice got the top ripped off his car. And you get to see what happens when you don't put all your lug nuts on tight. People in the 1970s rural America liked these movies because they could relate to the setting and the plot and the cars.

Moving Violation is about a man named Eddie Moore(Stephen McHattie) who is a drifter from the motor city who meets a small town waitress(Kay Lenz) who saw Sheriff Rankin(Lonny Chapman) killing his Deputy(Dennis Redfield) at the Rockfield mansion that Mr. Rockfield(Will Geer) saw and Sheriff Rankin chases them , and Eddie Moore was shot in the arm during one of the chases.Then the next day, they call a lawyer named Alex Warren(Eddie Albert) who helps them and dislikes Rankin. until following day when they supposed to go to the courthouse and there was a shooting outside the courthouse and Alex was shot and killed. Then Eddie shoots and blowing up the patrol cars and shoots Rankin. At the end Eddie and Cam talk and Cam climb the fience.It was a good movie.I give it ***1/2.