THE DRIVER

year: 1978

cast: Ryan O'Neal, Bruce Dern, Isabelle Adjani, Matt Clark

rating: ****

Less is more, and this film has more going for it than modern high-octane chase films. Ryan O'Neal plays a role written for Steve McQueen, and does it with dependable quiet slowburn. He's a getaway driver... the best around. The film really belongs to Bruce Dern as the detective on his trail. He follows O'Neal from witnesses to connections and pesters them into giving him information. But he cuts corners since no one gives him much to go on, and his frustration mounts. Three great car scenes (not all of them involving chases) envelope the movie perfectly. This is Walter Hill right before "The Warriors" doing noir/action with style and grace, but it's very subtle. For those looking for non-stop car crashes ala Hal Needham best go someplace else.

BREWSTER'S MILLIONS

title: BREWSTER'S MILLIONS

year: 1985

cast: Richard Pryor, John Candy, Peter Jason, Pat Hingle

director: Walter Hill

rating: ***

In this Walter Hill comedy (who's usually known for action), a whole lot happens, but not much lands. Although it doesn't seem to matter. The stuff that happens is entertaining enough, and things move as briskly and fast-paced as if this were an action film. An action-comedy. I don't mean "action-comedy" in the "Midnight Run" sense - meaning there's no actual adventure going on - but the comedic timing, the delivery of lines, and the running-around-frenzy of the characters provide enough movement to cover up the main flaw: that it's not very funny. Richard Pryor plays a minor league baseball player who inherits a lot of money and has to spend a million dollars a day for thirty days without having any assets to show for it, and then he'll inherit 300 million. The plot itself will keep the viewer drawn: will he reach the end of the rainbow with success?