The Gauntlet

The Gauntlet is a bargain bin purchase and only because Clint Eastwood directed and starred in it. I do love Clint Eastwood both as actor and as director. So I was pretty sure that I'll end up liking this film.

The surprise was that I saw it ages ago when I was a teenager and was in boarding school. We "the boarders" were invited to watch films at a "day" friend of ours and the film selected was that one (usually it was Footloose or, Paradise or that island film starring Brooke Shields etc.) and I don't think The Gauntlet was something my parents would have let me watch if they knew I was going to. Well I remembered many of the scenes (most probably because some were shockingly explicit) and I remember liking it a lot.

With the adult eye this film doesn't hold up as well. Even though it is filmed very well and Clint is great as usual the flaws are very conspicuous.

The story is about a drunk cop who is given the task to escort a witness from Las Vegas to Phoenix. His chief tells him that the witness is not very important. When he goes there he sees that the witness is not only a woman but also a prostitute and that everyone in Vegas wants to kill them both. He is determined to carry this task (mostly I think because he was so surprised and pissed off that the only reason he was chosen is that because he was expendable and thought a lousy cop) rather than ethics and beliefs.

The flaws start with lead actress (Sandra Locke) who I think was Clint's girlfriend or something. She is a very good looking lady and she really tries but acting talent is not something one acquires by effort. She doesn't have it.

One scene involves Clint trying to get away from a sharp shooter on a helicopter. Clint and Sandra are on a bike (I think a Harley) and driving in the desert. And they were not shot. Despite the fact that they are out in the open with nothing obscuring the vision of the guy at the helicopter with the rifle. Now what was that all about? I'm a gullible viewer and do not mind some silliness but really that was just insulting.

Also our hero Shockley hits Gus (our heroine) more than once. I didn't like it at all and she falls in love with him despite it. Ok he comes to respect her intelligence and bravery and is better than the stupid cop they kidnapped but still. I understand being macho and all but it is not OK to hit a woman just because she is there and she is not in a position to fight back.

But Clint is Clint and she is the more clever one who actually saves his life on more than one occasion so I decided not to dwell on that.

All in all this one is only and only for people who love Clint (both as actor and director).