I had read about this film for years before I actually saw it, and I have to say that when I saw it earlier today, I enjoyed it! Okay, it can be a bit slow in parts but was overall a good picture.
SPOILER WARNINGS: James Caan and Richard B. Shull play two newly released cons. After their release, they both head up to Shull's cabin. Not long after their arrival, they are shot at by unseen assailants. In his dying moments, Shull gives Caan the name of a man whom he once worked with and the name of another man, saying that he can find a secret stash of money. Caan escapes the cabin as Shull tries to hurl dynamite at the snipers and ends up blowing the building to kingdom come! And this is all before the opening credits roll!
The film then gets going as Caan hits the road to hook up with Peter Boyle, a small-time entertainer, and his wife, an old school-friend of Caan's. Before meeting them, he comes across Sally Kellerman as a hippie-chick type who turns out to be a thief. He ditches her after she holds up a diner, but their paths cross again and she ends up joining them on their quest to find over $3000 which Shull and Boyle had embezzled in the past. They must first find the elusive Vincent Palmer, who had been charged with hiding the loot. So, to this end, they hitch up Boyle's high-class caravan to his car, and begin their road trip.
But they are not alone. Since the beginning, Caan has been tailed by a large, black RV with tinted windows, which was parked near Shull's cabin. As time goes by, a second van just like it joins the chase. Caan and his friends speculate on who may be driving these shady vehicles (the wacky Kellerman suggests aliens at one point) but wherever they go, their unknown pursuers are never far behind. At one point, Boyle disappears and the others assume that he has been kidnapped and tortured. When they arrive at a campsite, the RV's occupants are revealed to be a group of sinister, bespectacled men, two of whom Caan has already encountered on his journey. He manages to give them the slip with the help of Kellarman, and the action leads to a final battle on the road between the RVs and Caan's car.
The performances in the film are okay, but both the main female characters are underdeveloped. Most of the other characters are just cameos. The music score is very odd, jazz-type music. But the music played when the RVs appear is suitably menacing. The RVs themselves are menacing, and they provide adequate suspense as we wonder who drives them and why they are after Caan and co. The ending is a great twist, which I won't spoil for you. A great, funny and thrilling road movie! I'd give it three stars out of five.
SPOILER WARNINGS: James Caan and Richard B. Shull play two newly released cons. After their release, they both head up to Shull's cabin. Not long after their arrival, they are shot at by unseen assailants. In his dying moments, Shull gives Caan the name of a man whom he once worked with and the name of another man, saying that he can find a secret stash of money. Caan escapes the cabin as Shull tries to hurl dynamite at the snipers and ends up blowing the building to kingdom come! And this is all before the opening credits roll!
The film then gets going as Caan hits the road to hook up with Peter Boyle, a small-time entertainer, and his wife, an old school-friend of Caan's. Before meeting them, he comes across Sally Kellerman as a hippie-chick type who turns out to be a thief. He ditches her after she holds up a diner, but their paths cross again and she ends up joining them on their quest to find over $3000 which Shull and Boyle had embezzled in the past. They must first find the elusive Vincent Palmer, who had been charged with hiding the loot. So, to this end, they hitch up Boyle's high-class caravan to his car, and begin their road trip.
But they are not alone. Since the beginning, Caan has been tailed by a large, black RV with tinted windows, which was parked near Shull's cabin. As time goes by, a second van just like it joins the chase. Caan and his friends speculate on who may be driving these shady vehicles (the wacky Kellerman suggests aliens at one point) but wherever they go, their unknown pursuers are never far behind. At one point, Boyle disappears and the others assume that he has been kidnapped and tortured. When they arrive at a campsite, the RV's occupants are revealed to be a group of sinister, bespectacled men, two of whom Caan has already encountered on his journey. He manages to give them the slip with the help of Kellarman, and the action leads to a final battle on the road between the RVs and Caan's car.
The performances in the film are okay, but both the main female characters are underdeveloped. Most of the other characters are just cameos. The music score is very odd, jazz-type music. But the music played when the RVs appear is suitably menacing. The RVs themselves are menacing, and they provide adequate suspense as we wonder who drives them and why they are after Caan and co. The ending is a great twist, which I won't spoil for you. A great, funny and thrilling road movie! I'd give it three stars out of five.