The Sugarland Express
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Movie Reviews of The Sugarland Express
Movie Review: Spielberg's 1st Real Movie.
Summary: 4 Stars
Between the fame Spielberg garnered from the success of the tv film DUEL and that first movie blockbuster of all time called JAWS, Spielberg directed another movie. This film was THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS and was his real theatrical debut.
The movie is based on actual real-life events. It tells about the adventures of a woman named Lou Jean Poplin (Goldie Hawn) and her husband, Clovis Michael Poplin (William Atherton) and there attempt to take back their baby from the foster parents who adopted the child while they were both in jail. Lou Jean has had a difficult life and is attempting to start anew, but the State of Texas won't allow her to have her baby back. In an act of focused anger and despair, Lou Jean convinces Clovis to break out of jail and together the duo begin a race across Texas to get back their child. Long before their was O.J. Simpson, there was Lou Jean Poplin and on their journey just about every policeman in the state of Texas and many other nearby states join the "chase" which ends up being probably the longest parade in America history.
THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS was not only Spielberg's feature film debut, but it was also the film that turned Goldie Hawn's career around from that of purely comic to one of dramatic as well. The film displays the begins of the "Spielbergian charm"--the modern equivalent of a Frank Capra picture. However, unlike many of Spielberg's other movies, THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS doesn't have the happiest of endings (though some relief is given in the closing comments over the screen). The movie is over 30 years-old, but holds up well. The story is moving, yet not all very sentimental.
Many believe that THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS was a flop in theatres. This is not true. The original film earned over $8 million (US) in it's original release which at the time made the movie a modest success. It wasn't until a year later with the release of JAWS that the first $100 million movie would be distributed, setting a new standard of success in Hollywood.
Some other notes of interest: THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS was the first movie to feature a tracking shot (front seat to back) and a 360-degree pan with dialogue from within a car. Also, Spielberg bought the shot-up 1973 Dodge Polara, Texas Department
of Public Safety car at the end of filming. Rumor has it that it's still in his garage to this day.
Overall, THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS is a moving film. The talent that Spielberg later perfected in later movies is evident throughout the movie. Watching this film, it makes me wonder why it took so long for the Hollywood establishment to take Spielberg serious as a director. Besides it's footnote in movie history, THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS is a movie worth watching on it's own merit and might just bring a tear to your eye.
Movie Review: A great Spielberg debut, a cracking good movie
Summary: 4 Stars
Thankfully we have a decent widescreen DVD of Spielberg's dazzling theatrical debut. It was a box office flop in 1974, probably because it didn't appeal to the `Easy Rider' set and because it makes satiric jabs at populist sentiment. Notably, its bittersweet ending poses sticky philosophical questions, distilled in the final, haunting line (I won't give it away here, you have to hear it for yourself). The hair raising finale presents the viewer with an odd Spielberg finish; who were the winners, who were the losers? And anyway, who in 1974 wanted Goldie in a superb but non-comic role? One of Spielberg's trademarks is tight visual and verbal economy. The opening shot alone makes ironic comments and transmits myriad detail, all within seconds. It's followed by one ingeniously inventive scene after another. A little slow to start, the action quickly gains momentum. Tension never stops building, spiked now and then by sudden moments of revelation and discovery. The acting is terrific (Spielberg uses local rubes better than any director around), and Ben Johnson's performance is one of unerring precision. HE steals the whole show. This was a most auspicious directorial debut and was a hit at Cannes (the well-honed script won first place). Spielberg knows how to get viewers involved and keep them there. As one who grew up down South I can testify that Spielberg captured the ambiance of the Texas countryside and people with gratifying authenticity. This is flawless work, among Spielberg's best. Hopefully this DVD will revive a film that has long deserved more attention. The DVD image is a bit soft in spots, and there's only a measly trailer for extras, but it's still a great ride for the money. Essential.Movie Review: Early Spielberg...Brilliant Spielberg
Summary: 4 Stars
Before there was a blockbuster, before there was Jaws (30th Anniversary Edition) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (30th Anniversary Ultimate Edition), there ws The Sugarland Express. Spielberg's first full-length motion feature. He previously directed the TV movie Duel (Collector's Edition) and few TV show episodes, but this is what really got him attention. He showed that he could develop and direct a full-length motion picture.
The movie itself is and uproarious hoot. Goldie Hawn stars in this true story about a women who breaks her husband out of jail to get their son back. It is one of the best technical low budget movies and such a sincere and fun movie. One of Spielberg's highly underrated and best.
The DVD doesn't feature much in the way of extra features but the movie on DVD is enough.
Highly recommended.
Movie Review: Entertaining
Summary: 4 Stars
Not a bad movie, but one that ignores the facts of geography. The prison unit where Goldie Hawn breaks her husband out of is, in reality, very close to Sugarland, Tx. Nonetheless, they have to embark on a several day journey to get to Sugarland. And at one point we see a road sign that is in Val Verde County! That is hundreds of miles away. Then at the end of the movie, we are informed that Sugarland is near the Mexican border--it is in reality a suburb of Houston --and indeed Goldie and her husband are seen driving through some West Texas scenery before landing in the Rio Grande. If you can overlook all of that insult to your intellignce, it is not a bad movie, all of that actors are great--- especially Ben Johnson and it is a good slice of Texas culture the way it was about 1969. It would have been better to invent a fictional town in West Texas as their destination. That would have explained the journey of several days and the West Texas scenery at the end of that movie.Movie Review: Oldie but a Goldie
Summary: 4 Stars
Goldie Hawn was often so giddy and spaced out in her earliest roles that it bordered on "just too silly", but she is sweet, almost luminous in this role. It's a chase movie, but it's really not as much a chase as a controlled odessey across Texas in a long gone time. All major characters perform their tasks well and Ben Johnson has to be the most convincing Chief of Texas State Troopers ever. Not a deep movie, but great fun to watch. And Goldie and Atherton evoke real pathos with their plight. An excellent beginning for one who would become one of our most esteemed directors.