On the Run

Bobby Lee is really bad at robbing banks, and finds himself released from prison only to find himself back in his old life. Annoying girlfriend, crappy job and all that. He sees no way out, except for one way, which is really badly robbing banks.

You see, Bobby hasn't got the fear when robbing banks. It's just that he tends to rob them in broad daylight while continually shouting his girlfriend's name (and vice versa). He also really advertises the car he's in, which leads to some slow car chases.

This film, however, is kind of enjoyable. Bobby's uncle is quite good as a guy who's been through all the crap Bobby's been through, and there's the bank manager who keeps running rings about Bobby. There's also a part of the film where things become ultra-violent for some reason, what with someone getting their guts blown out and someone being shot in the face with a shotgun. And the actual ending, which comes out of nowhere.

If you've picked up Mill Creek's 50 Drive in Classics and were putting this aside as 'not worth it', I'd maybe give it a watch. It's not bad.

Some interesting scenes with character actor legends Dub Taylor and David Huddleston. Shot in and around Tallahassee, Fla. the locations and local bit players are fun to watch. Opening aerial and local dirt track raceway footage is full of locals and red clay dust. The robbery at a small country grocery store, and a small town bank, the jail scene and state trooper action are totally authentic. This is probably Dub Taylor's (Bonnie & Clyde, The Getaway, You Can't Take It With You) longest screen role. The original music soundtrack is written and performed by several of L.A.'s top session artists. A strong first effort by twenty-somethings just out of USC Film School.

The budget for this film may have been $10,000. But I don't care. It was set in South Georgia / North Florida, which is close to my heart since I grew up a middle Georgia. Was set in the early to mid-70s, which is near and dear to my heart since I was born in 1966. And it has some very redeeming elements and charming aspects, even though it's an extremely low budget movie with no name brand actors or anybody involved in this production. The 15 mph stop sign in Valdosta was funny as was the mega size Schlitz beer bottle in an early bar scene. And there were several scenes that had high production values, like the primary couple being affectionate in the water, and some of the chase scenes, very well done. I'm not sure that Smokey and the Bandit was much better than this movie.

In the late 60's / early 70's a lot of films followed the template laid down by the landmark crime film Bonnie and Clyde (1967). There was a plethora of films about young couples getting involved in crime and then going on the run from the law. Country Blue is a pretty typical example of this. It's about a young guy just out of prison who starts an affair with his boss's daughter, before long they embark on a crime spree, robbing banks as a means of getting out of their dirt poor environment and starting a new life somewhere else.

Films set in the American South often focus on characters trying to get out of their environs. The rural South depicted in this film is shown warts and all. It's a place of poverty and hopelessness, full of run-down people. It's this very authentic location and feel that give it quite a bit of its interest. In this regard it reminded me a little of films such as Moonrunners (1975) and indicates that like that one Country Blue was a little ahead of the curve in terms of the soon-to-be- massively popular spate of films set in the Southern states – if you went to the cinema in the late 70's I daresay you'd be tripping over them, there were so many. Country Blue is a much lower budgeted affair than those though and it doesn't feature all that much good ol' boy humour. But its lower production values have, if anything, only accentuated the authenticity as the locations here are properly lived-in and battered.

For the most part it qualifies more as a crime-drama than anything else, with the action only really escalating in its final section, where we have bloody shoot-outs with the cops, a beating, an attempted rape and lots of car chases. It also has one of those organic sounding scores, compromising of country rock and pop songs which so many early 70's American movies have and which I am always a sucker for. All-in-all, Country Blue might be a little rough around the edges but it has an attitude and feel that I found very easy to get behind.

Alright, stripping down to the essence, this is standard "southern discomfort" storytelling - poverty, crime, sex, corruption, and retribution. There's nothing inherently clever in the individual elements: we've seen 'em all before, and mostly done better. It does have the strength of atmospheric authenticity: it was shot in the South, and it feels real. The locations are appropriately weatherbeaten and lived-in, the character's behaviors don't feel over-the-top stereotypical; you get the notion real Southerners put this together. And of course, who doesn't love Dub Taylor? What I find most effective and interesting is that this movie has the perfect pace for a drive-in date. Whenever things get boring or a scene with the hero and his girl goes a little too long, you suspect this is when people in their cars would in turn focus on their beloved and start with the midnight baseball. You know how on the old Letterman show he'd sometimes say, "When you see me enjoy a delicious beverage, feel free to enjoy one at home"? The kissin' n' huggin' scenes seem to be giving the same signal to the viewer: it's follow-the-leader time. And sure enough, it puts all the really important plot detail and high-speed action at the end, just in time for when the average lover would have depleted their personal energies and would turn their attention back to the movie. Don't believe me? Try it at home sometime. It's much more fun than playing one of those sitcom drinking games.