In this adaptation of a novel by Laurence Henderson, the legendary Oliver Reed plays Harry Lomart, a career criminal patiently doing his time because he thinks his wife Pat (Jill St. John) will wait for him. Not so. She intends to divorce him and hook up with a lover (who got her pregnant). Now consumed with the thought of revenge, Harry busts out of prison, with two accomplices, Birdy (Ian McShane) and MacNeil (Freddie Jones) in tow. Harry intends to recover some ill-gotten money, have it out with a weasel named Marty Gold (Frank Finlay), and eventually get back at his wife, while being pursued by a police inspector (Edward Woodward) who's almost never around when you need him.
"Sitting Target" is good, gritty British crime fiction in the tradition of "Get Carter". Much of the dialogue may be indecipherable to North American ears, but the actors are great fun to watch, especially deceptively soft-spoken tough guy Reed. It's refreshing to watch a story with virtually no redeemable characters among the antagonists: these are simply bad, bad men, and the film does have a theme of there being no real honor among thieves.
"Sitting Target" is given efficient direction by the under-rated filmmaker Douglas Hickox ("Theatre of Blood", "Zulu Dawn"). Hickox gives us a real doozy of a tense, drawn-out prison escape sequence, a kick-ass fight between Harry and Inspector Milton, a cracking, visually striking action set piece around the 56 minute mark, and a solid chase finale. The film may indeed have a grim tone, but it's not totally without humor. It's rousing, violent (but not really gory), and sexy as well. The tale tries to parcel out its details & information carefully, although few of the revelations actually come off as surprising. One of the best elements is the excellent music score by Stanley Myers.
Overall, this is a worthy viewing for people eager to check out an under-seen and under-appreciated effort from this whole sub-genre.
Seven out of 10.
"Sitting Target" is good, gritty British crime fiction in the tradition of "Get Carter". Much of the dialogue may be indecipherable to North American ears, but the actors are great fun to watch, especially deceptively soft-spoken tough guy Reed. It's refreshing to watch a story with virtually no redeemable characters among the antagonists: these are simply bad, bad men, and the film does have a theme of there being no real honor among thieves.
"Sitting Target" is given efficient direction by the under-rated filmmaker Douglas Hickox ("Theatre of Blood", "Zulu Dawn"). Hickox gives us a real doozy of a tense, drawn-out prison escape sequence, a kick-ass fight between Harry and Inspector Milton, a cracking, visually striking action set piece around the 56 minute mark, and a solid chase finale. The film may indeed have a grim tone, but it's not totally without humor. It's rousing, violent (but not really gory), and sexy as well. The tale tries to parcel out its details & information carefully, although few of the revelations actually come off as surprising. One of the best elements is the excellent music score by Stanley Myers.
Overall, this is a worthy viewing for people eager to check out an under-seen and under-appreciated effort from this whole sub-genre.
Seven out of 10.