Cutter's Way
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Ann Dusenberry, Jeff Bridges, John Heard, Lisa Eichhorn, Stephen ElliottBrand: BRIDGES,JEFF
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 105 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-07-10
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Movie Reviews of Cutter's Way
Movie Review: The Depth of Tragic Poetry
Summary: 5 Stars
"Cutter's Way," Ivan Passer's moody and eccentric 1981 drama, is the kind of film that requires repeated viewings. It's such a sad work, with unforgettable characters lost in a dreamy depression of white California sunshine. It's become a cult film, and perhaps its reputation precedes it.
It was because of that very reputation that I first viewed the film as a youth and wondered what all the fuss was about. Now as an adult, I have seen it again and suddenly understand it's dark agony. "Cutter's Way" is not an easy film to like, limping along much like its title character, enraged and filled with the bitterness of unfortunate fate.
John Heard's performance is the key. There was a time, around the late 1970s, when he was one of America's greatest actors. Heard made a trio of films, now largely forgotten, in which he perfectly symbolized the disaffected 20-something American suffering from a 1960's hangover. In Between the Lines (1985) (1977), Head Over Heels (aka Chilly Scenes of Winter) (1979) and "Cutter's Way," he was adorned in frayed jeans, scruffy hair and the perennial slouch of the cynic, railing against society and wondering just how he failed to realize the moment America went to hell. As Alex Cutter in "Cutter's Way," Heard gives a tour de force. A Vietnam veteran, hobbling around with one leg, one arm and an eye patch, Cutter is a perpetual drunk, slinging insults to anyone within earshot. He is enraged at a world that has forgotten him.
His best friend is Richard Bone (Jeff Bridges), a part-time beach bum, gigolo and boat salesman floating through a life of forgotten youth. They lounge in semi-commune in a rundown house with Cutter's wife Maureen (Lisa Eichhorn), the trio lost in depression and bottles of vodka. There was a time when life had meaning for these three, but that was many years ago.
Bone is driving home from a dalliance with an older married woman when his car breaks down in an alley. He witnesses a man dumping something into a trashcan, who then drives past him recklessly. Bone finds the police at his door the next morning. What was in the trashcan was a dead teenage hooker, and he's a suspect. At a parade the next day, he sees a man on a white horse and realizes this was the person he witnessed in the alley. There's one problem - he's the wealthiest and most powerful man in Santa Barbara.
Thus begins an unlikely mystery as Cutter wishes to fight for justice and see the man pay for his heinous crime. Bone, of course, could care less. For Cutter, it's an opportunity to convince his friend their miserable lives have purpose. Society, America, injustice - everything they once fought and rebelled against during the 1960s - has suddenly landed on their doorstep in the form of "The Man."
One of the many beauties of "Cutter's Way" is that you're never entirely sure if "The Man" is guilty or Cutter has just latched on to a fantasy to redeem a pathetic life. He alienates all around him and this specific project, blackmailing the suspect in an effort to prove he's guilty, could get them all killed. In the difficult and at times passive role of Bone, Jeff Bridges gives another in a long line of terrific performances. Forced to participate in Cutter's wild plan, he must come to terms with not only his love for Cutter, but his own loss of self worth. During their youth, hinted at throughout the film, there was the promise of making a difference while battling the Vietnam War, society and even Nixon. Such clear-cut enemies have long since faded. Much like the boats he attempts to sell, Bone is now adrift and average. Cutter's quest is an attempt to make a final stand against what he perceives to be corruption.
The final scene amazingly has Cutter riding on a white horse through "The Man's" property, past swimming pools, martini glasses and the socializing elite, symbolic of the 1960's rebellion against a corrupt America. In Cutter's mind, this wealth created the Vietnam War and sent many teenagers oversea to fight their battle, akin to throwing their lives into a trashcan. Cutter, carrying the deep scars of war, is taking on "The Man," and Bone must decide whether or not to make a stand with him. When the film fades to black, Cutter and Bone have become one, bonding for life as friends, performing the final, haunting act of the 1960's generation.
It's a tragic ending, mournful and heartbreaking, and yet filled with love. "Cutter's Way" was barely released due to its unconventional nature, awkward, irate and disillusioned. But it has the depth of tragic poetry. After my second viewing, many years down the road, I suddenly understood the anguish of these characters, and it left me longing. If you get "Cutter's Way," it could be one of the best films you've ever seen.
Summary of Cutter's Way
One of the most original, unpredictable buddy movies in cinematic history, this "hauntingly powerful, exhilarating thriller" (New York Magazine) stars four-time Oscar(r) nominee* JeffBridges and John Heard (The Pelican Brief) as two friends locked in a pulse-pounding battle for their lives. Suspected of murdering a teenage girl, Richard Bone (Bridges), a laidback Santa Barbara boat salesman and gigolo, turns to his best friend, Alex Cutter (Heard), a disabled Vietnam veteran, for help in finding the real killer. But Bone gets more than he bargained for when Cutter pushes the envelope and, instead of contacting the police, tries to blackmail their suspect andtheir suspect, instead of giving in, violently turns the tables on them! Trapped between the killerand the cops, Cutter and Bone begin a cunning game of cat-and-mouse that ignites into a full-blown wara "nightmare vision that leaves you bewildered, yet moved" (LA Herald-Examiner)! *2000: Supporting Actor, The Contender; 1984: Actor, Starman; 1974: Supporting Actor, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot; 1971: Supporting Actor, The Last Picture ShowThis Ivan Passer movie--a marvel of dark, brooding cinema--almost didn't make it into theaters. The film was nearly dumped by its studio because its pessimistic story seemed too downbeat. Which, in fact, is part of the appeal: the way it gets to the heart of a group of people who have given up, but then find something that motivates them to go on. In this case, it's greed: Cutter (Jeff Bridges), a burnt-out gigolo, and his pal Bone (John Heard), a disfigured Vietnam veteran, get involved in a plot involving corruption and murder. Bone has proof that a powerful businessman is behind the killing and wants to be paid off to keep quiet; instead he buys them more trouble than he can imagine. Bridges, as always, is superb--and Heard is downright scary. --Marshall Fine
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