Spotlight

Spotlight Date: 5-September-04
Spoiler Rating: Low

Bullitt (1968)

"Bullitt" may be the ultimate Steve McQueen experience because its cool matches his cool, its anti-glam chic reflects his natural self-possession. A solid cop flick that holds up even in today's police-drama-soaked environment, it subtly achieves a significance beyond the administration of justice or the articulation of machismo; "Bullitt" paints a portrait of a man at a crossroads, even though you might not realize it until the end.

The movie quickly draws the viewer into a busy, jazzy, slightly grimy '60s San Francisco where honest-to-goodness people try to commit crimes, raise families, fall in love, get rich, and do the right thing. At the center of it all is Frank Bullitt, a police lieutenant who is sent to protect a mafioso-turned-federal-witness and gets caught in a mystery that threatens his job, his relationship with a beautiful lover (Jacqueline Bisset), and his life. Bullitt is the kind of guy men want to be and women want to be with, a taciturn hero regarded as the best in the business who simply wants to do good work and enjoy his time off. Building on McQueen's innate sex appeal and flawless composure, the character develops gradually through dealing with the suffering, dishonesty, and pettiness of the world around him. Of course, he approaches his resultant personal crisis with as much coolness as his professional one, although the movie leaves his next step to the imagination.

Bullitt's "babysitting" gig comes from an ambitious politician named Walter Chalmers (Robert Vaughn), who hopes to make his name by producing the crucial witness in a high-profile court case. Chalmers' presence hangs over the movie like a cloud; he represents, in his smarmy self-righteousness, the antithesis to Bullitt's unvarnished integrity. (Their dissimilarity is best illustrated by their interaction with others: Chalmers orders everyone around like a lackey, whereas Bullitt knows and respects the personal lives and loyalties of his team, especially his right-hand man, played by Don Gordon.) The antagonism between the politico and the policeman adds a layer to the concept of bad guys vs. good guy, leaving the hero in sudden opposition to men who offend him on both sides of the law.

But between moments when the protagonists butt heads or try to work situations to their advantage, "Bullitt" is a classic underworld movie in which the mechanics of crime and its unveiling stay at the fore. Generally, the script discloses bits of information only as Bullitt learns them, so the audience has an investment in all of his actions. (Okay, the car chase doesn't lead to much except fancy driving and a gratuitous explosion, but it's still terrific fun. If you rent the DVD, check out the extra about McQueen's "commitment to reality" and how he performed his own stunts. Did I mention he was cool?)

Word has it that Wolfgang Petersen ("Troy") is planning a new Bullitt movie. This doesn't surprise me, but it would be impossible to recapture the original's flavor today. Although "The Bourne Supremacy" has recently proven that action movies don't have to sacrifice the individual substance of their heroes, we've moved into an era where realism equals grotesquery and the strong, silent type denotes a tragic secret or tortured past. The time of Steve McQueen — confident, efficient, and upright because he was born that way — is gone. But "Bullitt" is a great way to revisit it.

Copyright © 2004 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.