This comment may contain a few spoilers for people who are not aware of the events on which this movie is based.
Though it has been a number of years since I've seen this movie, I know it is based on a true story, the Tison family's murderous rampage through the Arizona desert, accompanied by the psychopathic Randy Greenwalt, in the summer of 1978.
Reminiscent of his portrayal as the heavy in "Cape Fear", Mitchum is at his "worst", so to speak (that's actually a compliment), as the brutal psychopath, Gary Tison. I was troubled, though, at the movie's apparent attempt to exonerate the Tison boys of any real culpability beyond the prison escape. Some observers who have seen the surviving sons after their capture say they hardly conveyed an image of otherwise decent boys who only wanted to save their father from a prison bully, and then live in peace. They were more like willing accomplices to the six murders committed during the rampage, even if they didn't do the actual killings. The climactic scene where the gang attempts to run a roadblock, during which oldest son Donald Tison is seen trying to kill his father, was utterly implausible. Donald Tison was in fact killed during an attempt to run a roadblock, but the rest, come on!
Watch it to be entertained, and perhaps even informed, but don't take it all at face value. Check other sources if you want facts.
Though it has been a number of years since I've seen this movie, I know it is based on a true story, the Tison family's murderous rampage through the Arizona desert, accompanied by the psychopathic Randy Greenwalt, in the summer of 1978.
Reminiscent of his portrayal as the heavy in "Cape Fear", Mitchum is at his "worst", so to speak (that's actually a compliment), as the brutal psychopath, Gary Tison. I was troubled, though, at the movie's apparent attempt to exonerate the Tison boys of any real culpability beyond the prison escape. Some observers who have seen the surviving sons after their capture say they hardly conveyed an image of otherwise decent boys who only wanted to save their father from a prison bully, and then live in peace. They were more like willing accomplices to the six murders committed during the rampage, even if they didn't do the actual killings. The climactic scene where the gang attempts to run a roadblock, during which oldest son Donald Tison is seen trying to kill his father, was utterly implausible. Donald Tison was in fact killed during an attempt to run a roadblock, but the rest, come on!
Watch it to be entertained, and perhaps even informed, but don't take it all at face value. Check other sources if you want facts.