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Bad Company Reviews
A forgotten gem from the early 70s, Robert Benton's Bad Company is the picaresque story of Drew Dixon (Barry Brown), a young man trying to escape America's Civil War draft who finds himself in the company of Jake Rumsey (Jeff Bridges) and his gang of inept thieves as they make their way west to escape danger and find their fortune. It's an episodic Western filled with gentle humor, sudden tragedy, and youthful misadventure, a story of trust and misguided friendships, unlike any Western that you're likely to ever see. With stunning cinematography from the great Gordon Willis, effective direction from Benton (plenty of long takes, many of them beautiful tracking shots), fascinating characters, and strong performances (including a role for John Savage early in his career), Bad Company is hard to find but well worth a watch.
A tale of how young in's became outlaws out west. Really, I didn't care for it when not much happened. Nor was there much redeeming to the realism.
I'm digging the whole 70's cynical play around vibe of this movie and the whole Western feel to it. It feels authentic with all the attention to detail. Jesus, what a degenerate Bridges' character is. He doesn't give a damn. This Dixon kid made a mistake joining this band of misfits. That scene where Bridge's character is cutting up the rabbit was priceless. You get to see how inexperienced in the real world all these kids really are. Jake's got a lot to learn from Dixon. Jake's way too quick to take the dishonest way. Oh my god! I was not expecting that kid's head to get blown off. Kind of funny the whole thing. The expression on his face and how he was just stealing a pie. It's funny how even though they had guns, they still decided to throw rocks at one another. It just goes to show how juvenile and underdeveloped their minds still are. They're not prepared to shoot a gun or take someone's life. I love how movies back in the 70's had a very real and rawness to them (ex: Taxi Driver, Midnight Cowboy, Godfather). You get the sense that people weren't scared to go there. To get that real without being too depressing or overly dark. Just show it the way that it would be in real life. That's something I can appreciate. Of course I'm talking about the scene with the brothers hanging from the tree and the boy getting shot for stealing the pie. I think part of the reason Dixon always came back to Jake was because he probably reminded him of his deceased brother. Really great little Western movie and a breakout role for Jeff Bridges. The actor who played Dixon also did a terrific job. All around great acting, authentic set pieces and a great story line.
Wonky movie that stays entertaining, only slightly funny in my opinion.
One of the best and unjustly ignored films of its day. A beautiful revisionist Western. The non-pop song real version of Butch and Sundance. Gritty and beautiful cinematography. Two tremendous performances.
Saw this when it 1st came out. Goddamn, I'm old. One of my favorite off-the-beaten path westerns of all time...
I'm normally not a fan of the 70's revisionist or "acid" westerns because they normally just revel in their mire and "authenticity" and demythologizing the west in favor of making an interesting film. Bad Company is clearly a product of that era, but it escapes the traps that makes most of those movies a snore. The characters are great and the story is fun. We laugh at the lack of knowledge these young city guys have about all the stuff other gruff n tough guys in the western movies have known all their lives. The film has a lot to say about youthful inexperience in general. Also of importance, Gordon Willis (of The Godfather fame) does the cinematography here and it is worth the price of admission alone. This came out the same year The Godfather did, and that same super cool lighting technique is here in its entirety. It looks like a western Godfather. I kept saying it looked like The Godfather before I was even aware Willis had actually worked on it. Really superb work from him. Also, can't beat a good young Jeff Bridges performance!
Written and directed by Robert Benton, Bad Company is about a goody two shoes kid who dodges the draft. He gets robbed by young con artist Jake (a young and good Jeff Bridges), and then they cross paths and fists again. This time Drew joins Jake and his little band of thieves, and they have misadventures while trying to get money, steal pies, and survive being found by the army. The movie can be brutal and poignant at times (rabbit scene), but overall the sum of its parts is weakened by the lead actor who isn't very strong or well developed. It had the potential to be more but falls short.
Episodic adventures of a group of young men trying to escape and survive in a time of forced drafting for the civil war. It mainly focuses on the relationship between the two leads who come from different backgrounds but are ultimately in the same boat. Employing the usual western scenery without all the usual western trappings makes for an easy going, enjoyable film.
good historical drama
The story is there but gets lost in a loose script. Decent cinematography but poor direction.
"Bad Company" seems to be the result of weak direction and a real lack of narrative cohesion, which seems to have been caused by poor editing. The story plays out in a somewhat enjoyably episodic fashion, but there's not much exposition or plot development and the tone changes so many times that it becomes confusing as to whether or not the film is to be taken seriously. Barry Brown and Jeff Bridges both have solid performances, which can't be said for most of the cast, and there are some good scenes and clever exchanges between the both of them, but overall, "Bad Company" is pretty unspectacular.
Its worth the effort to get past the slow start to the movie. Its a western about men who are avoiding the draft into the Civil War by making their way out west. Bridges provides the "bad company" to the young, morally upstanding boy who quickly learns that in order to survive in the west, you sometimes have to break your moral codes.
(***): [img]http://images.chrc4work.com/images/user/icons/icon14.gif[/img] Well-acted and interesting.
Bad Company was an awesome glimpse into one of Jeff Bridges earlier roles. What I loved about this movie it the fact that it was filmed in 1972 giving it true western feel and realistic approach (likely because it wasn't filmed as much in Hollywood Studios as truly out in the open), but more so was, it was filmed before we lived in a overly sensitive society where as the movie was able to be completely gritty with the times using terms and outlooks to be as authentic as it truly would have been if you were actually watching these men in the 1860s. The plot itself was a well done following of an Ohio Boy who started out as a good Christian Hillbilly who deserted before he was drafted into the Union Army; partially because of the sacrifices his family had already gave (his older brother). It truly captures the essence of the time and how many well-behaved individuals were changed into ruthless out-laws solely based on the ruthless era in which they lived.
Good movie, enterteining, good plot and good acting, Jeff Bridges does not disappoint, release on HD!
BAD COMPANY is a character study about how a good "Christian" boy, slowly becomes an outlaw. Of course he is aided on his life-altering journey, by the very untrustworthy and charismatic, Jake Rumsey (Jeff Bridges). This is not your regular run-of-the-mill Western. The main characters draw a fine-line between good and bad, and the harsh realities of living during these tumultuous times. Are portrayed very realistically, almost too much so. A great little gem that features a whole slew of great character actors. This is also an early look at a young Mr. Bridges, whose great acting prowess was evident, even back in 1972.