You need money for the road.
- And I'm staying.
- Then all the more money will be needed. A single bath costs five bucks.
- I don't really want to bathe.
- Drink - fifteen.
- So I'm going to go sober.
- The girls are thirty.
Give me the money.
Racing. Fascinating, interesting and insanely dangerous occupation. They cause a spike in adrenaline in the blood even among those people who are only watching what is happening, let alone the participants themselves. Naturally, they participate in races for the sake of victory, but it is also natural that the most vivid memories of the participants will not be victory or defeat, but the path that they will have to make. So our guest today tells about the race on horses in an era when the Wild West is gradually fading into the past, giving way to the era of industrialization, but there are still places that for miles and miles the surroundings remained uninhabited and therefore beautiful. Oh yes, the author of these lines is a terrible romantic, what can you do? It's not about me, it's about the movie. The film, which has a simple but intriguing title – “Bite a bullet”.
Um, I don't even know where to start. I will begin to paint the annotation for the film, so I will enter into confrontation with what is written in the annotation for the film. After all, we have a race that is seven hundred miles long, not six hundred and seven racers, I think. I'm not so sure about this for the simple reason that the viewer is never shown all the racers together. Not even a group photo. I just assume that James Coburn’s character keeps saying that he has a one-in-seven chance of winning, but I don’t know if there were seven. There were probably more. It doesn't matter, though. What's important? Most likely, we have a fable about a hare and a turtle transferred to the realities of the Old West. At the same time, if we do not know anything about the “hare” at all and it will appear in the film well if for five minutes, then the “turtle” will be told in all details.
So, Sam Clayton (Jean Heckman) is one of the racers who decided to take part in the race... he decided to participate... um, because. Oh, great option, because! This can explain all the plot moves in all films and books. All right, all right, maybe, only possible, Heckman's hero races to support his old friend Luke Matthews (James Coburn), who is determined to win at all costs. Well, maybe it's because Sam cares about the health of the horses in this race. In any case, these are my assumptions, which will not be verbally confirmed in the film, but if you have any better, then I am all the attention. And as paradoxical as it may sound, but the hero of Gene Heckman in this film tries to embody the image of the “lone shooter” John Wayne. He's harsh, but not ruthless. He's a gentleman, but he's a womanizer. He is ready to lend a helping hand to the first person he meets without asking for anything in return, but at the same time he is ready to shoot off this very hand if there is a knife or a revolver in it. Perhaps the early Gene Heckman always played similar roles, but I remember him for the roles of scoundrels and villains, so an honest and noble hero in his performance causes cognitive dissonance and expect some meanness from Sam Clayton. But no, just a noble hero who participates in the race not to win, but to help others, give advice, and sometimes teach the mind of especially eager participants.
As for all the other heroes, they all want to win. Here's a pretty Miss Jones (Candice Bergen), who is and is not a lady. She is a slut with a good heart who is ready to help others, but she also wants to win the main prize - two thousand dollars to get her husband, a murderer and a scoundrel out of prison. And here's Luke Matthews, who bet all the money on himself, so he's going to come first. There will be a few more characters, whether it is a self-confident kid who does not respect anyone and nothing and dreams of being as famous as Jesse James, there is a guy who has a toothache and to whom the main characters will make a prosthesis in the form of a bullet, which is why the film will receive such a name, as well as a man who decided on this race not for the sake of a prize, but for the sake of fame and to have his name written in history. That’s just those characters are needed as a pleasant addition to the picture, but nothing more.
I will say more, despite the fact that the film itself tells about a horse race, it is surprisingly meditative. Yes, there is room for both drama and adventure, but they are needed to dilute what is happening on the screen. Bite a Bullet is a travel movie. The journey of different people with their own principles, who try to behave with each other in a gentlemanly way, and none of them is a gentleman. This film is imbued with inner kindness and humanity and that is the only thing it has. For me, that's enough to say - I spent two hours of my life for good reason and enjoyed watching. But will that be enough for you? Decide for yourself.
6 out of 10