Of course, it isn't literally a "chase" story, and as good a suspense story as it is, it's much more than that. I've been really attached to this one since it was about a year old, and I saw it on the CBS Late Movie. (I had it on tape, unedited, for some time, and I'm still trying to replace it.) The chemistry (to use an unavoidable word) between Janssen and Kotto is really great. And since the movie is set during one night and day, and so much of it in a car, there's a feeling of really being on this long car ride with these two characters. To me, about the only drawback is the number of near-misses that Greene has when it comes to escaping, almost too many of them. But this also caused one of the good lines - "I thought you might be tempted to pick up another fare." And of course there were a lot of good "episodes" in the story, like the scene with William Katt. One of the best lines, though you definitely have to hear it at the right time (toward the end), is, simply, "You drink too much coffee." When it's followed by the other character's answer to it, you really see how the two of them have gotten to know each other. I don't usually care about parallels, let alone slender ones, but I can't help noticing that this crime story involves a famous football player, a husband and a wife (though not the PLAYER'S wife), and a long would-be escape down a highway. But if the O. J. trial had been as interesting to me as this FICTIONAL story, I would've watched IT, too.
