ALMOST THERE: William Friedkin's SORCERER (dir by William Friedkin, w/ Roy Scheider, adapted from/remake of Henri-Georges Clouzot's THE WAGES OF FEAR 1953, 121mns, USA, 1977)

Cut to the chase-this is an incredible movie. It doesn't fully work for reasons we'll get into. But in terms of its most important ambition-to be a hard nosed, edge of your seat action-suspense movie-it's wild in its success.

William Friedkin's SORCERER, a remake of Henri-Georges Clouzot's classic 1953 French thriller, finds four nothing to lose men in a dangerous Latin American town agreeing to a suicide mission to drive explosives 200 miles through impossible jungle for a payout that will let them start new lives.

Friedkin deviates the most from the original at the very start when he shows the backstories of each man (the original started with the men already stuck in the Latin American town): a hired killer, a bomb making terrorist, a soon to be jailed corrupt French businessman, and a getaway driver for thieves (Roy Scheider) all commit errors that will force them to disappear and leave their respective countries. 

Desperate men in desperate situations…

From the very start, the best and the problematic aspects of Friedkin are on display. The FRENCH CONNECTION and EXORCIST director knows how to grab you and squeeze. A supreme talent with gritty atmosphere, propulsive action, and a kind of "zero f@$ks" sensibility, Friedkin isn't here to hold your hand and give you some sugar to help the medicine go down. 

He wants to entertain you. He wants to put you on the edge of your seat. He wants to shock you. And he does all of those things.

At the same time, some movie problems are never resolved. It's hard to really care about the lives of four men who, each in their own way, have destroyed the lives of others and then abandoned everyone. These aren't anti-heroes who still have some redeeming characteristic. These are desperate men who killed people, abandoned their families, etc. That was always part of the point of the original WAGES OF FEAR-the desperation of the men-but Clouzot worked hard enough to make sure they were still fascinating, engaging characters.

The characters and actors in Friedkin's version do a great job with what they're given. And Friedkin achieves a Howard Hawks/John Huston-esque hard living men getting a job done vibe. He just doesn't flesh out or land the characters. 

If anything, SORCERER feels as influenced by Huston's THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE and Hawks' ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS as the French original. And that's a good thing. One feels SORCERER could have easily played in the late 1930's-1940's as those classics did.

But those classic movies made sure to have at least 1-2 wise or ultimately good hearted characters or 1-2 fascinating characteristics in the anti-heroes to provide contrast. Not here though the men DO earn our respect by problem solving throughout the movie.

How the f@!k did they shoot this sequence?

The second hour of the movie-the drive-is one incredible sequence after another. The movie finds a way to put these drivers into a number of different "impossible" situations including the famous "rickety bridge rainstorm" crossing sequence. And here is where Friedkin really earns his bones and deserves comparison with Clouzot and Hitchcock. These sequences are all nail biting. One sits, jaw agape, in disbelief at how real and dangerous they feel via Friedkin's filmmaking. You do leave your seat for fear these men are going to blow up at any second. 

The other big issue (at least for this writer) with the movie is the very last scene (don't worry no spoilers) because you can see it coming. There's a plant you sense will be "paid off" in the final scene. And sure enough, it is. And that's a problem-to be ahead of a movie's ending for most of the movie. 

These things don't hamper one's ability to marvel and enjoy what's clearly a "how the hell did they make this" kind of action-adventure movie. You still leave the theater or your seat in disbelief at the filmmaking, stunts, vibe.

Tangerine Dream provides yet another iconic synth score here. And Scheider, always underrated, delivers another go-for-broke performance. Along with FRENCH CONNECTION, EXORCIST, and TO LIVE AND DIE IN LA, SORCERER is top shelf Friedkin.

It's just fascinating to watch a tremendous movie and still understand why it may not have resonated with audiences (even if STAR WARS had not come out that same 1977 weekend). A movie can be a downer, centered around anti-heroes, and still be a success. FIVE EASY PIECES, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST, THERE WILL BE BLOOD, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE, STALAG 17, DOUBLE INDEMNITY, TAXI DRIVER, THE WILD BUNCH all jump to mind. But all those movies do have some existential societal fascinating question at the center of them. Or the main characters fight the good fight and almost achieve success, change, self-improvement, contact. Something. Even if they fail in the end. 

When you're making a movie about selfish desperate men going to extremes to make money to change the downward spiral of their lives, you are showing reality as it often is. And Friedkin does it with tremendous filmmaking brio that yields stunning sequences. But there's no captivating central question or character struggle to hook the audience. And therein may be the rub.

Craig Hammill is the founder.programmer of Secret Movie Club