Cutter's Way
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Movie Reviews of Cutter's Way
Movie Review: More Relevant Than Ever
Summary: 4 Stars
The title "Cutter's Way" is a reference to the main character, Alexander Cutter, perhaps cinema's all-time best antihero. John Heard plays the difficult role of an angry Vietnam veteran who returned from what he now regards as a meaningless war minus an arm, an eye, and a leg. He hates the fat cats-feeling that they conned him and others into patriotically serving while they stayed home, and he resents his best friend Richard Bone (Jeff Bridges) who avoided the war and continues to avoid any involvement or commitment. Commitment is Alexander Cutter's one remaining virtue, when he sets his sights on taking down an arrogant oil tycoon who has gotten away with murdering a 17 year old cheerleader, he stubbornly refuses to give up this mission and insists on doing it his way..
Heard should have gotten the Best Actor Oscar in 1981 (it went to Henry Fonda for "On Golden Pond") but "Cutter's Way" was not popular with critics and viewers so Heard was not even nominated for this role. It is an amazing performance as Heard must win audience sympathy for a character who is not only unpleasant, but terribly abusive to everyone, including his wife and his only two remaining friends. But he earns our admiration with his final act as a knight (on a white horse) who gallops into danger to avenge his wife's murder.
With this Cutter is finally revealed as a romantic who is willing to back up his angry words and seemingly empty threats. His anger is over more than his futile wartime sacrifice. He feels frustration and confusion because while he has remained the same, the world has changed around him in ways antithetical to his beliefs (can you identify with that?). He recognizes that he has become irrelevant to this world but is not going out until he has made a last stand. His commitment ultimately gets Bone to take his first moral stand and finish what his friend started, doing it "Cutter's Way".
Like "Fat City" (another of Jeff Bridges' early films) "Cutter's Way" is more appreciated now than at the time of its release. In part this is because both of these films have held up very well, if anything their political messages are even more relevant today. And make no mistake, thematically "Cutter's Way" is a political film-both anti-war and anti-power; very much in the tradition of "Chinatown" and the world of Raymond Chandler adaptations.
This film is essentially a character study with an expressionistic ending. Most action/adventure fans will find it way too slow and cerebral for their tastes. The acting and the themes are its strength, the contrived story is a non-fatal flaw. The multi-dimensionality of Cutter, Bone, and Cutter's wife Mo (an extraordinary performance by Lisa Eichhorn) are carefully crafted and revealed by director Ivan Passer. Cutter's other remaining friend George (Arthur Rosenberg) is equally well crafted but more secondary to the story.
A fifth character (the dead cheerleader's older sister played by Ann Dusenberry) appears to be a victim of the post-production process as she simply disappears without explanation about 20 minutes before the film's end. Normally the absence of a supporting character would go unnoticed but Dusenberry had done such a nice job developing this character (maximizing what little she was given to work with) that the absence is glaring. Contemporary audiences will see a lot of Dominique Swain in Dusenberry. They not only look enough alike to be sisters but they have the same confident flare to their acting style. Passer had to work hard to keep Dusenberry reined in but succeeded in getting a nice restrained performance from her, her high intensity peaks through just enough to convey that there is more to her character than meets the eye.
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.
Movie Review: an engrossing murder mystery
Summary: 4 Stars
When Cutter's Way was first released in theatres in 1981, it tanked at the box office thanks to bad press from The New York Times and a nervous studio still smarting from the bath it took on Heaven's Gate. A good film almost disappeared from sight. Fortunately, the advent of video, and now its debut on DVD, has given this unusual film a second chance that it so richly deserves. Jeff Bridges proves once again that he is one of the best American actors working in film today. He portrays Bone as a man afraid of commitment, content to do little, but fall back on his pretty boy looks to bed any woman who crosses his path. As one character tells him, "Sooner or later you're going to have to make a decision about something." This could be the underlying thesis of the whole film: making decisions, taking a stand about something.
John Heard's Alex Cutter is on the opposite end of the spectrum. He desperately wants to get involved in something, anything to stop living life in a bottle of alcohol. And so, he latches on to the murder mystery with the ferocious tenacity of a pitbull. Heard plays Cutter like a character straight out of a Tom Waits song. His performance, complete with raspy voice and cynical outlook on life, recalls many of Waits' down-on-their-luck losers that populate his songs.
The actors vividly breathe life into their respective characters creating the impression that they exist beyond what we see on the screen, that in some way we already know them and that they'll continue to exist after the film ends.
Director Ivan Passer also deserves credit for creating this world. From the haunting opening shot of a parade, caught in dreamy slow motion (thanks to Jordan Cronenweth's superb cinematography), filmed at first in black and white and then as the credits fade in and out it gradually becomes colour, Passer draws the audience into his absorbing drama. Cutter's Way contains strong visuals to contrast the ambiguous story. Nothing is spelled out for the audience, even right up to its conclusion. Do we support Cutter's obsessive conspiracy theories or Bone's refusal to get involved?
Following in the grand tradition of short changing this movie, MGM has decided to include only the theatrical trailer on the DVD. What about a retrospective featurette? All the principals are still alive and I'm sure would love to talk about this movie. Or an audio commentary? Jeff Bridges contributed an excellent one on the Against All Odds DVD so he's hip to the format. A lot of missed opportunities here.
Movie Review: Cutter's Way, Indeed
Summary: 4 Stars
In a recent review of "Crazy Hearts", the vehicle for Jeff Bridges' Oscar-winning performance as down and out country singer/songwriter Bad Blake, I noted that, in a sense, he had been preparing for and playing up to, in one form or another, that role since the start of his career. The line from Duane in "The Last Picture Show" to Bad in "Crazy", although not a straight, one-dimensional line, has exhibited some familiar mannerism and acting tics. Like, for example, that sense that you come away with after watching Bridges, or rather his characters, that he is always ready to walk away from a bad situation at the drop of a hat. And not look back, and with no regrets. Except, of course, when duty calls for him to "take it on the chin" for the good guys. "Cutter's Way", a film toward the beginning of Bridges long career is an exemplar of just that idea.
In the aftermath of Bridges' Oscar a number of art theaters are putting together and presenting a retrospective of his work. A local theater in the Boston area is one such venue. "Cutter's Way, while no means his best work, is worthy of inclusion in such efforts. Here Bridges plays beach bum, hanging-around guy, semi gigolo, Richard Bone, who seeming cannot be moved off a dead pan, dead-center of existence. Except he has this quirky friend, Cutter, a dysfunctional, psychically and physically wounded Vietnam vet looking for a quick hit at success. The plot line here provides amble opportunity for that after Bone is tangentially involved in a murder case. Needless to say old Cutter means to, come hell or high water, get a pay off from a rich guy who seems to have done the deed. And it goes from there.
Now here is the odd part. Bridges puts in an adequate performance as the blasé roustabout Bone and displays those mannerisms mentioned above that are his trademark. However, old gravelly-voiced, gritty-etched, eye-patched John Heard steals the whole show with his bravado performance. Although Cutter is, in the end, unsuccessful, trying to save his marriage to his long-suffering wife and does not win the prize that he so frantically seeks at that same end able to get Bone off dead-center. Kudos, Cutter/John Heard.
Movie Review: Riding the White Horse Into Classic Noir
Summary: 4 Stars
Cutter's Way takes it's time in developing and establishing a plot, so much so that I only made it all the way through the movie on my 3rd attempt. Those who appreciate 'noir' will give this movie the highest ratings. Personally I find a lot of 'noir' cinema to be something of a cop-out - movie endings that stop in mid-sentence - yes, there's a poetry and a power in that, although I'm more of a sucker for clever twists and surprise endings. This is a decent movie and a good character study with some haunting images, and themes - taking a stand, making a commitment and heroism amidst futility - are some of the issues that emerge. However, it's not an extremely high-paced ride. It takes it's time and meanders quite a bit in the beginning, garners more interest mid-way through, and then ends quite suddenly in traditional noir style. It's worth a look, but don't put it on when you're already tired.Movie Review: Cuts through nothing.
Summary: 3 Stars
I read some great reviews that got me interested and excited about this film, but it just never happened. I had trouble following the story and the characters. I will admit, Heard's Cutter was outstanding. I was surprised that he was not up for an award for his role in this film, but Bridges just seemed to lack on every level. Unless he is handed an exceptional script, Bridges plays the same sort of character over and over again. I also had trouble with the female character of Mo in this film. It was never really understood what her relationship was to everyone until I read some reviews, which then made sense.
I also had trouble with Cutter's physical condition. It seemed like he was fully able to do everything, except sleep with his wife, as a normal person would. I guess that was the point. Create a character that is so believable that you don't see the physical condition. Too bad I did. I really wanted him to lift up his eye-patch to reveal to us that perhaps he was none other than One-Eyed Willy himself. That would have been a perfect twist.
There were gaping holes in this film as well. The plot seemed to jump around without any explanation. I needed more story on who the friend was and his connection to J.J. Cord. The girl that follows Bone and Cutter around seems to have disappeared midway through the film and it was her battle they were fighting. The only redeeming aspect of this film was the ending. My decent review of this film was dependent on the ending and it succeeded. The ending leaves all of it up to the viewer. The imagination can play wonders with this and I think it can be interpreted in anyway. I especially loved reading about the Hamlet reference that I didn't see it until now, but it makes perfect sense. That is why I watch these films. I want to see how other people see life and their representation on camera.
Overall, Cutter's Way was not a great film, but the ending redeemed itself in someway that I will never be able to explain.
Grade: *** out of *****