The Philosophical Hitman

The Mechanic (1972) – A veteran hitman takes on a spoiled apprentice. A question of betrayal makes their lives more complicated.

Directed by Michael Winner

Starring – Charles Bronson, Jan Michael Vincent, Jill Ireland, Keenan Wynn

Why I Liked It – The perfect Bronson role

While there’s plenty to criticize about this movie (see the paragraph below about his co-star!), Bronson is so perfect that he pulls it back from the edge. The thoughtful assassin who can kill with quick efficiency. There is nothing Hollywood about Bronson. None of the classic leading man good looks, and an actor of limited range. But smart enough to specialize in roles that are firmly in that range. This one is the perfect example.  Arthur Bishop is in the “family business,” organized crime. And he’s very, very good at what he does.

For all the compact perfection of Bronson’s performance, there is almost an equal level of awfulness in the work of Jan Michael Vincent.  Vincent is the mirror image of Bronson, blonde hair, blue eyes, leading man good looks with a perfect smile. Sadly, that doesn’t extend to the mirror of Bronson’s acting ability. I can’t think of a single performance by JMV that rises above tepid. Here the casting as the self-centered, spoiled brat son is an obvious match. But his line delivery is awful. To be fair, so are the lines, but a decent actor can bring something to such a role. Not so much here.

Beyond these two, there’s little of much interest. Veteran character actor Keenan Wynn is fine, but his character dies early in the story. Pretty decent motorcycle chase, plus a car chase/shootout, but the fight scenes are weak.   It suffers with a few of the worst parts of ‘60s movies, like bad tension building visual devices. A shot of something important, a shot of the actor, back to the thing, back to the actor but closer, thing, actor even tighter, thing, just the actor’s eyes! Bub, buuuuuuh! It can be done well, but almost never is.

So where does that leave us? Classic Bronson, a couple nice chases, and a satisfying ending are enough for a quiet weekend kind of movie. Just don’t get your hopes too high.

Rating *** Worth A Look