King Of The Hill

The Driver (1978)
d. Walter Hill . Starring Bruce Dern, Ryan O'Neal and Isabella Adjani.

Now here  is one existential gem, another diamond that should have been infinitely more radar-friendly. A little Leone goes a long way and so does Howard Hawks, minimalism never had such a vociferous tone. The Driver encapsulates everything it needs to and more. Hill's less-is-more strategy and knows how to bring the party even in a no-frills event. His impressive debut as a director Hard Times (1975) that starred the always transfixing James Coburn and Charles Bronson, showed he was truly no novice, even in his freshman adventure.

This true auteur manages a paean to all his heroes, and in the process pulls himself off as one - but quietly so. In my summation, it would not be verboten to mention him in the same sentence as Pekinpah or even Frankenheimer. 

      And it takes a thief  - to catch a thief.

Both subtle and  surreal, Hill definitely has his  remits . Born a tad late, for the genre he was meant to be one with -  albeit that never inhibited him from tuning in to a zeitgeist and up close and personal with a world that was seemingly forgotten as in the world of the famed Bunker Hill District, the unofficial headquarters of noir. He expertly reclaims the atmosphere even though it was but a ghost in the late seventies.

Yes this film is compendious in nature, but the layers speak for themselves. Ryan O'Neal's "Driver" is a renegade car thief who pricks the balloon of egotistical "Detective" portrayed by a convincingly cocky Bruce Dern, who is unwilling to admit defeat in the uncrackable case of this master trickster.