Jeff Bridges and John Heard star in a haunting mystery about a dead cheerleader — and about what had happened to America in the years since the '60s drew to a close.
This tour through the 80s is one of my favorite features! When I first saw Cutter’s Way I was too young to really get it... it’s been on my list to revisit for a while, and now I’ll bump it up. (And as for Heaven’s Gate I’ve been looking for an excuse to finally watch it, and then read that making-of book about it... thanks for giving me a reason.)
I've been reading the Cimino book and it's put Heaven's Gate on my holiday watch list finally. I've had it for a few years and it's time to finally do it. It helped end some of my favorite film making (like this movie).
It seems impossible that the Coens did not borrow liberally from strands of this film's DNA as they wove The Big Lebowski together, right down to the casting of Jeff Bridges. When I first watched this a few months ago, I couldn't help but note the many parallels. You note the very different tones, but both films are shaggy, hippie-inflected noir updates with other genres spiked in, especially the western. How about that crazy ending, with the doomed Cutter literally riding to Bone's rescue on a white horse? What a great, strange movie. If it had done better, it suggests a whole different arc for John Heard's career.
I read Thornburg's novel well before I had the chance to see the film. And while I hate to be 'that guy' (I mean it, I really do), the film pales in comparison. If you're a fan of the movie absolutely seek it out.
Whether or not you enjoy Cutter's Way or not has a lot to do with your tolerance for extended Tom Waits impersonations. John Heard may be a standout in the film, but man I wish he dialed the vocal gruffness down a notch. Still considering all (?) of John Heard's subsequent acting credits cast him as a prototypical milquetoast Boomer, this role is interesting in a what-if kind of way.
I don't know if this is a great movie, but it's absolutely on my list of movies with endings much better than they deserved (other entries Sympathy for Mr Vengeance; The House by the Cemetery).
That banner image is one of my favourite shots in the entire film, a 4th of July parade that's somehow both sun-dappled and straight out of a noir. Lensed by the amazing Jordan Cronenweth, there are set-ups in Cutter's Way that are him basically cracking his knuckles for Blade Runner the following year (and both films being prime examples of why celluloid still looks better to my old man's eye than digital). A movie I both love and can't watch more than once a decade due to Heard's committed, bull-in-a-china-shop performance reminding me a little too much of a few self-destructive friends over the years.
Another example here of how movies made/released in the early part of the decade feel more like their previous decade. I don't care about the facts, this is a 70s movie.
To that point, the movie that's often cited as the-end-of-the-line for the auteur-driven, freewheeling era in Hollywood is HEAVEN'S GATE, which came out later in the year and is next on Keith's agenda. I think you're right that it has that feeling to it. What a picture!
I always place the end of the 70s at summer 1982. Likely the week between the release of E.T. and THE THING/BLADE RUNNER. ROAD WARRIOR was already out there so it made it as a 70s movie.
I originally watched this movie about a decade ago as part of a double feature with Hickey and Boggs, which, if you're aware of that movie you may guess how the night ended. Just dead silence and a theater of people slowly shuffling out onto Beverly Boulevard and on home with their thoughts.
Saw this at probably too young an age because dad would bring all manner of things home from the video store without checking. (I'm not complaining.) Was so young and inexperienced I was confused why they suspected some well-known business guy for the murder. Surely someone in that position wouldn't be so evil. But I loved the movie then and watched it during lockdown and liked it very much. Its cynicism is far more accessible to me now and I miss that kind of movie-making. I really don't see how someone looks at the domestic situation presented in the movie and wonders why the wife drinks all the time.
Just watched it the other day because I read this, and yes yes yes!! What an ending, goddamn!
Lisa Eichhorn and the dead woman's sister both had some oddball moments, and I don't think the movie works as a whole, but the ending makes it all worthwhile.
This tour through the 80s is one of my favorite features! When I first saw Cutter’s Way I was too young to really get it... it’s been on my list to revisit for a while, and now I’ll bump it up. (And as for Heaven’s Gate I’ve been looking for an excuse to finally watch it, and then read that making-of book about it... thanks for giving me a reason.)
I've been reading the Cimino book and it's put Heaven's Gate on my holiday watch list finally. I've had it for a few years and it's time to finally do it. It helped end some of my favorite film making (like this movie).
I'm surprised a critic from Hackensack would have to ask why someone would drink all the time.
That being said, this movie is bleak. Great...but bleeeak.
Tried to watch this last week and Heard is so irritating and off-putting we had to turn it off.
It seems impossible that the Coens did not borrow liberally from strands of this film's DNA as they wove The Big Lebowski together, right down to the casting of Jeff Bridges. When I first watched this a few months ago, I couldn't help but note the many parallels. You note the very different tones, but both films are shaggy, hippie-inflected noir updates with other genres spiked in, especially the western. How about that crazy ending, with the doomed Cutter literally riding to Bone's rescue on a white horse? What a great, strange movie. If it had done better, it suggests a whole different arc for John Heard's career.
Cutter really is a performance that should have changed his whole trajectory.
Nothing I'd ever seen suggested he could pull off a role like that.
I read Thornburg's novel well before I had the chance to see the film. And while I hate to be 'that guy' (I mean it, I really do), the film pales in comparison. If you're a fan of the movie absolutely seek it out.
Not to ruin the book, but is it still a whodunit?
The plot is essentially the same. It just expands on some really interesting ideas that the movie just touches on.
Whether or not you enjoy Cutter's Way or not has a lot to do with your tolerance for extended Tom Waits impersonations. John Heard may be a standout in the film, but man I wish he dialed the vocal gruffness down a notch. Still considering all (?) of John Heard's subsequent acting credits cast him as a prototypical milquetoast Boomer, this role is interesting in a what-if kind of way.
I don't know if this is a great movie, but it's absolutely on my list of movies with endings much better than they deserved (other entries Sympathy for Mr Vengeance; The House by the Cemetery).
That banner image is one of my favourite shots in the entire film, a 4th of July parade that's somehow both sun-dappled and straight out of a noir. Lensed by the amazing Jordan Cronenweth, there are set-ups in Cutter's Way that are him basically cracking his knuckles for Blade Runner the following year (and both films being prime examples of why celluloid still looks better to my old man's eye than digital). A movie I both love and can't watch more than once a decade due to Heard's committed, bull-in-a-china-shop performance reminding me a little too much of a few self-destructive friends over the years.
https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/563d85f1e4b046f2de703af7/1454384873965-EIH80GRREHZDESVCZI3I/image-asset.jpeg
https://static.wixstatic.com/media/38cc8e_b8e6f1658ed1471eb639e805fbd0ffce~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000%2Ch_547%2Cal_c%2Cq_80/file.jpg
Another example here of how movies made/released in the early part of the decade feel more like their previous decade. I don't care about the facts, this is a 70s movie.
To that point, the movie that's often cited as the-end-of-the-line for the auteur-driven, freewheeling era in Hollywood is HEAVEN'S GATE, which came out later in the year and is next on Keith's agenda. I think you're right that it has that feeling to it. What a picture!
I always place the end of the 70s at summer 1982. Likely the week between the release of E.T. and THE THING/BLADE RUNNER. ROAD WARRIOR was already out there so it made it as a 70s movie.
Can we all agree that "Cutter and Bone" is still a much better title?
I originally watched this movie about a decade ago as part of a double feature with Hickey and Boggs, which, if you're aware of that movie you may guess how the night ended. Just dead silence and a theater of people slowly shuffling out onto Beverly Boulevard and on home with their thoughts.
Saw this at probably too young an age because dad would bring all manner of things home from the video store without checking. (I'm not complaining.) Was so young and inexperienced I was confused why they suspected some well-known business guy for the murder. Surely someone in that position wouldn't be so evil. But I loved the movie then and watched it during lockdown and liked it very much. Its cynicism is far more accessible to me now and I miss that kind of movie-making. I really don't see how someone looks at the domestic situation presented in the movie and wonders why the wife drinks all the time.
Incidentally, the “Just Watch” says it’s streaming for free on Kanopy
This one belongs in the 'bummer sorta noir' category with Prime Cut and Night Moves and maybe Chinatown; maybe one of my fav genres.
Slow to this article. Love the movie, and while I won't spoil the ending with specifics, but it has my favorite final scene for a villain ever.
Just watched it the other day because I read this, and yes yes yes!! What an ending, goddamn!
Lisa Eichhorn and the dead woman's sister both had some oddball moments, and I don't think the movie works as a whole, but the ending makes it all worthwhile.