Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Spikeopath Bad Company is directed by Robert Benton and Benton co-writes the screenplay with David Newman. It stars Jeff Bridges, Barry Brown, Jim Davis, David Huddleston and John Savage. Music is by Harvey Schmidt and cinematography by Gordon Willis.Young men dodging the Union Army draft for the Civil War escape to the West in the hope of finding fortune and freedom. What actually awaits them is something completely different.The 1970s saw a slew of Westerns released that were a far cry from the golden frothy production line of the 1950s. Film makers big into the genre were quick to latch onto more sombre stories or quirky non conformist pieces. The climate of the World was changing and so directors and writers were comfortable in portraying the Wild West as not being romantic or heroic at all. One such gem is Bad Company.Benton's film quickly sets out its stall with its opening salvo, as Union soldiers round up young boys in child snatching fashion, all that is missing is big chins and lollipops. Enter one young man named Drew Dixon (Brown), a God fearing youngster packed off by his Mum to the West to start a richer life. Soon enough he is falling in with bad company, company fronted by Jake Rumsey (Bridges), the main man for a ragtag band of young thieves.The West painted here is a dour place, Rumsey's gang think nothing of robbing young children of their pocket money, or tormenting a feral feline. We are often throughout the picture reminded that folk come West for fame and fortune etc, but have found nothing but misery. A man quickly spies an opportunity to solicit his wife out to the young gang for $10 a pop, an elder gang think nothing of robbing the younger upstarts. Weapons have to be traded just for a meal (slop really...), and of course there is no honour among thieves, doing each other over will come naturally. And naturally pain, death and rude awakening are just a heartbeat away.And yet the pic is not without humour, much needed humour as it bears out the naivety of youth, or misplaced cockiness, or just in fighting camaraderie. There are laughs to be had here, some choice dialogue or a put-down, but given the nature of the story, a shock or heartache scene is never far away. A Technicolor production, the colours are however stripped down to autumnal filters, this perfectly aids the naturalistic flavours of this particular Western broth. Schmidt offers up a range of piano dirges, flitting between perky and morose as per the scene it accompanies. Cast are great, Bridges and Brown hold court in believable fashion, the other youngsters guided well by their director. Big Joe's (Huddleston excellent) gang consists of reliable character actors who Western fans will be pleased to see, such as Geoffrey Lewis (The Culpepper Cattle Co. High Plains Drifter), Charles Tyner (Jeremiah Johnson, The Outlaw Josey Wales) and Ed Lauter (Breakhart Pass, Dirty Little Billy).Myths of the West debunked, Bad Company is a must see for Western fans seeking the more earthy approach to Western story telling. 8/10

MattyGibbs This is one of those films that you put on not expecting much and are nothing but impressed by what you see. In short it's the story of a group of young men setting off to try their hand at a life of crime. It turns out to be a harsh lesson in just how tough the old west could be. Shot in muted colours this is an impressively filmed western which evokes the real character of the period. The cast is led by a young Jeff Bridges who is hugely charismatic in this role. He is ably supported by Barry Brown as the fundamentally decent young man not suited to the role of an outlaw.Although fairly slow to get going, this film has a number of memorable episodes and the tone of the film changes between light and dark at regular intervals making the sporadic violence all the more shocking and unpredictable. This fits in nicely with how life must have been during this period. I am surprised this film hasn't got a much higher profile as it is one of the more memorable westerns I have seen. Well worth watching for western fans.

zardoz-13 "Bad Company" qualifies as a modest, offbeat, revisionist western. No, this unconventional oater about youth in revolt with Jeff Bridges and Barry Brown doesn't celebrate the golden opportunities that awaited settlers out west as the typical John Ford horse opera might herald. Instead, everybody complains about the lack of hospitality and the terrible ordeals that the pioneers weathered on the rugged frontier.Our protagonists are a Union Army draft dodger from Ohio on the lam and an ill-bred ruffian who preys on the unsuspecting. "Bonnie and Clyde" scenarist Robert Benton teams up again with co-scribe David Newman, but Benton is calling the shots now rather than somebody else. Benton depicts crime on the prairie as neither glamorous nor simple. Moreover, he presents violence as impersonal, arbitrary, and without a shred of sentiment. For example, a young thief steals a pie cooling off on the window ledge of a farm house. As he scampers out with the pie, the back of the head erupts with a splash of blood as a bullet hurls him headlong into the dirt. Benton stages an impressive hanging scene without the usual ostentation. A small group gathers around the man to be hanged. They seat him on the horse, and a deputy leads the horse away without warning so that the criminal sways briefly with a kick or two. Everything about the hanging takes place in such a matter-of-fact way that the punishment itself lacks any impact. Altogether, "Bad Company" deals in irony, and our two anti-heroic leads dabble with little success in crime until the last scene when they emerge as bank robbers. In a sense, the end is the beginning for them as criminals. Most of the action occurs in the wilderness, and the wilderness here is drab, overgrown with foliage, and never scenic. Mountains don't crouch ominously on the horizons. Despite the lackluster setting, Benton's low-budget oater is blessed by the cinematography of "Godfather" lenser Gordon Willis. Willis imparts a sense of muted beauty to this Spartan tale. "Bad Company" isn't a traditional western and only one important character sports a Stetson. Nobody looks like the usual cowboy, though the sets have a western flavor.As "Bad Company" unfolds, the Union Army is rounding up young men who have tried to avoid enlisting in the military. An Ohio youth, Drew Dixon (Barry Brown of "Halls of Anger") evades the Union troopers when they search his house and then his parents pack his belongs, give him some dough, and send him on to Fort Jefferson where he plans to catch a wagon train west to Virginia City. When he arrives in Fort Jefferson, Drew falls in with the unprepossessing likes of roguish Jake Rumsey (Jeff Bridges of "Rancho Deluxe") who leads him down a side alley and clubs him. Drew has a wad of cash stashed in his shoe, but Jake walks off with less than ten dollars. Later, Drew looks for a Methodist woman. Jakes' cohorts rob her, but he returns her purse and breaks into her house without realizing that Drew is waiting for her return. Drew and Jake tangle in a knock-down, drag-out brawl and Jake is so impressed with Drew's tenacity that he takes a liking to him. The Methodist woman returns to her home and screams at the sight of destruction, prompting Jake and Drew to exit before they are caught on the premises. Whereas Jake is a cheerful thief, Drew tries to stick to the straight and narrow. For example, Jake and his gang coerce Drew into proving his mettle by robbing a storekeeper. Drew takes money from his shoe and smashes up his fist to prove that he dealt with resistance from the storekeeper. Jake and company take him in as one of their own. They are all teenagers and they dress like the children of settlers. Nobody wears traditional western gear.The theme of the West as a land of woes rather than promise is played out in two important scenes. Benton has an amusing incident happen when the boys encounter a farmer with his wife on a wagon in the middle of the prairie. The farmer warns them the nothing good can come of the west. They tried to till the land, but Mother Nature threw one obstacle after another in their way. Finally, the farmer, Zeb (Ted Gehring of "The Thomas Crown Affair") strikes a bargain with the boys that they can have intercourse with his wife, Min (Monika Henreid of "The Omega Man"), for eight dollars. Of course, Jake is the first one to mount her and he finishes up in lightning fast time. Zeb comments about Jake's celerity, and Jake is proud that he came so rapidly, not realizing the onus attached to swift sex. Later, our heroes are caught off-guard by an older gang of outlaws led by Big Joe (David Huddleston of "McQ") who laments the day that he went west. Big Joe and his minions rob the boys, but they leave them their horses. Inevitably, Jake's gang begins to fragment, especially after the encounter with Big Joe and his outlaws. They dine with a farmer who keeps them covered with a shotgun. At one point, they steal chickens from another farm and one of them dies stealing a pie. Before long, Jake and Drew are set afoot when their friends betray them. Jake and Drew turn on each other and Drew joins a posse led by a marshal (Jim Davis of "The Honkers") and he catches up with Jake, but he cannot stand to see Jake swing."Bad Company" is an above-average movie, probably more sophisticated than it needed to be. Newman and Benton has written an interesting tale of initiation, but the stakes here are pretty low and the filmmakers are more prone to poking fun—subtle fun—at the genre than delivering slam-bang shoot-outs, hard-riding chases, and bar room brawls.

rsternesq I love westerns and I love Jeff Bridges. After seeing A Door in the Floor again I remain mystified as to why he doesn't have a shelf full of Oscars. That said, Bad Company is not a terrible movie but it surely isn't great. It is a stretch to call it uneven because it is evenly ordinary. It lacks the lyric quality of McCabe and Mrs. Miller or the iconic quality of The Searchers. As a matter of fact, it is not really comparable to any of the great westerns because it is inherently small and my bottom line is that to the extent that it is worth watching, it is because it was a sincere effort but that is the best I can do and it is faint praise indeed. I don't think that it is a neglected masterpiece but think it is neglected precisely because it is not a masterpiece.