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Based on the novel “Mute
Witness” by Robert L. Pike, Bullitt is a precursor to just
about every tough-guy, overly violent, rogue, vigilante cop, from
Dirty Harry to Popeye Doyle. Remembered chiefly for a realistic
car chase through the San Francisco bay area, the film is actually
more of an examination of a hard-boiled man dehumanized by his submersion
into the sewers of crime and violence than an adventure flick. The
action is sparse and the organization of events is procedural, but
Steve McQueen handles the title character with care, making sure
that he’s believable without completely living up to the unnaturally
macho insinuations of the name.
When Johnny Ross turns state’s evidence to rat on the Chicago
crime “organization,” it becomes a babysitting job
for Lieutenant Frank Bullitt (Steve McQueen), personally requested
by politician Walter Chalmers (Robert Vaughn) who’s looking
for praise before local elections. When Ross is attacked by professionals
while being holed up in a hotel, Frank is asked to play it by
the book. But getting the job done is slightly more important
– and he really isn’t the man to play by other’s
rules. He’s the kind of guy who eats frozen TV dinners,
hangs with worrisome eye candy Cathy (Jacqueline Bisset), steals
newspapers and hangs up on phone calls from police captains. Oddly
enough, we don’t really find out too much about Bullitt
(including his manly last name) until the main premise is well
under way. |
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Public crucifixion means
nothing to Frank, especially compared to the task of outsmarting
another attempt on Ross’ life. And protecting the witness
forces the chase to commence. It’s brooding and observational
as the plot progresses, leaning away from suspense and action. It’s
also a little bit bloody. During every action sequence the music
completely stops in favor of sound effects and gritty realism, leaving
the jazzy music by Lalo Schifrin to merely compliment the quieter
moments. The infamous and lengthy car chase scene itself is very
cleverly edited; a high-speed pursuit in which the hunter becomes
the hunted, complete with tire-squealing, rubber-burning, a behind-the-wheel
viewpoint, frequently airborne vehicles, engine-revving, metal-crunching,
and heavy destruction.
Very minor characters are given screentime and dialogue unnecessarily, including doctors and nurses with routine hospital lingo and family members, and Jacqueline Bisset gets a painfully generic speech on Frank’s increasing callousness due to interacting with the harsh nature of his career. Resultantly, Bullitt is slow-moving more often than it should be and the hitman efficiency is questionable, but the story is intriguing, the character study is brilliant, the editing and camerawork is wildly innovative (the film won an Oscar for Best Film Editing) and McQueen perfects the renegade cop template. - Mike Massie |