Bad Company (Widescreen)

 

 

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This first feature directed by Robert Benton sets the tone for all the good work he followed it with.

While there's little in common between this darkly funny western, and say 'Kramer vs.
Kramer' on a story level, the underlying style and themes ' a genuine appreciation of the
complexity of human nature, a refusal to judge characters in simplistic terms, a sense
of humor off-setting even heart rending situations, a subtle visual strength that never
overwhelms the story, but always strengthens and feeds it ' are all already in place.

Here he creates a western not quite like any other, as a rag-tag group of young boys,
most on the run from conscription in the Civil War (clearly a Vietnam-era reference)
try to make it on their own as 'outlaws', or at least their romantic notion of such,
The main conflict is between Brian Brown's straight arrow Christian boy, aping the
ideals and notions taught him all his life, and the very young Jeff Bridges equally
acting out his schoolboy idea of a tough guy.

Along the way, as they encounter a series of real adults, dangerous, hardened,
seemingly with no ideals left, both young men are slowly forced by circumstance
to examine and change their own self-image.

There are a few cheats here or there on a story level, and not every episode is as good as the
next in this episodic tale, but this is a unique, creative and terrific use of the 'old west'
to explore modern morality with wit, humanity and complexity.

Jeff Bridges made two great, underappreciated movies in 1972 - the John Huston directed FAT CITY and BAD COMPANY. Audience indifference to FAT CITY has always baffled me. As of today I have a new conundrum to puzzle over. BAD COMPANY is one of the best movies I've seen in a long, long time.
It's 1863 and the Union army is rounding up draft dodgers. Young Drew Dixon (Barry Brown), with parental blessings, prayers and one hundred dollars in traveling money, lights out for the territories beyond the reach of the US Army. His journey stalls out as soon as he reaches 'St. Jo''. The army is there in force and transportation west is scarce. It's only a matter of time before he's discovered, and the penalty this time might result in his death.
Drew stumbles upon a group of homeless young ruffians, nominally led by Jake Rumsey (Jeff Bridges), and in short order he joins them. On mule and horse the six young men bid farewell to the United States and head west for Virginia City. As Drew tells us in a voice-over narration, "I've fallen in with some rough types, but it seems to be the only way I can get to the west and make my parents proud."
BAD COMPANY looks beautiful. Most of the action takes place out of doors, on the golden prairie 'neath a cerulean blue sky. Even the few indoor shots don't look like typical studio sets - when Jake and Drew have a little set-to in a house the props have weight to them, and chairs and tables don't collapse when fallen upon. The editing and acting add to the naturalistic feeling. Director Robert Benton allows scenes to play themselves through, and he allows the actors time and room to find the meaning of scenes. It helps tremendously that Bridges is cast in the lead role - even at this early stage of his career his charisma and instincts are in full play.
The plot is a bit of a shaggy dog and it takes a few unexpected twists and turns, but things never feel forced. For instance, after a couple days on the road the boys come across a farmer and his wife heading east. The farmer gave up and is heading back home, done in by twisters and cattle men and "pure d-rotten soil." The scene might have ended there, it was a natural end point, but Benton extends it and has the farmer make a rather surprising offer to the boys involving his wife. It's a decision that could have ruined the scene and maimed the movie if done wrong. It is handled so smoothly, though, that it's utterly convincing.
BAD COMPANY is a great movie that deserves better than the anonymity it's been languishing in for the last three decades or so.

WARNING: BAD COMPANY is rated PG but there are some scenes in it that might make it unsuitable for younger viewers. A wild rabbit is shot and killed in one scene, a man is hanged in another unedited scene. Also, there's quite a bit of bad language coming out of young mouths, including racial epithets.

This film makes you believe that this is how it was as the characters slide into outlawhood. It's just a great shame the sound on the disk is so terrible.

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4.0 out of 5 stars An artful, reflective, unusual western
One of the best anti-heroic westerns I've seen... A young, brash Jeff Bridges stars as Jake Rumsey, the putative leader of a disorganized "gang" of adolescent boys, set... Read more

Published on Jan 28 2004 by DJ Joe Sixpack

4.0 out of 5 stars Elegant, "tough times on the frontier" western
No, this isn't an action-comedy with Chris Rock and Anthony Hopkins. This is a little-known Western from the early 1970s that deserves a revival of interest. Read more

Published on Jan 20 2004 by Claude Avary

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Company
Jeez, how many movies have been named `Bad Company?' Well, this is the best I've seen...

I got this one off of e-bay for cheap -had been curious to see it, but unable to find it... Read more

Published on Oct 6 2003 by Edward M. Erdelac

5.0 out of 5 stars The way the west was....
Picturesque yet grotesque, heart-warming yet so bitingly real, 'Bad Company' depicts a Western landscape which had really only been trod upon before in the Spaghetti westerns of... Read more

Published on Dec 11 1999 by Johnny S Geddes

5.0 out of 5 stars Lik the proverb says, "'Bad Company' corrupts good morals."
This is an overlooked and, unfortunately, mostly forgotten Western from the 1970s. I first saw it with my younger sisters and brother at the Mustang Drive-In in Chandler,... Read more

Published on Jun 16 1999

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