Monday, March 24

10E2342: Happy Bday Steve





Highway beer toss.

From the beginning 10engines has always been a Steve-free zone but since it is his birthday today what the heck... and the movie Junior Bonner is a real gem/sleeper. Before Peckinpaw directed McQueen and McGraw in The Getaway, he made Junior Bonner. If you don't like westerns atall then this might be a tough one for some but Peckinpah had the chops for this. The rodeo movie is it's own subgenre of westerns (8 Seconds, Cowboy Up, FTW... guilty pleasure the last one). But Junior Bonner has a lot to recommend it, not including a certain actor called Steve McQueen - and a lot of snap pocket action.

The story arc wraps up a little too nicely, but there are great subtexts for the inevitable march of progress (end of the rodeo life for Jnr., construction over farmland, age...) as well as some serious father issues (talking to you Wes Anderson). The barroom is like a second home and there is a huge set-piece dance/brawl that is worth the price of admission.