Movies

Thunderbolt And Lightfoot (1974)

At first glance it seems like just another buddy movie. This time with Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges, which is an amazing combination, so yeah worth giving it a chance. Come out the other side kind of transformed. This is more than just two guys struggling against the cruel hand of fate or trying to get laid, although both of those are elements of their trajectory. It’s actually an examination of the nature of male friendship and companionship. Separated by age but brought together by chance and kept together by honesty and mutual affection.

On a thematic level, the film seems to have three parts. The first is naturalistic and relaxed, the two men shot against the majestic backdrop of rural Montana. The second is dark and chaotic as they team up with Eastwood’s former partner-in-crime-cum-would-be-assassin and his sidekick to perpetrate a copycat crime on the bank they robbed years before. The coda returns a feeling of natural order, though with tragic overtones. Worth a watch, there is more than the title and synopsis would initially suggest. This was Michael Cimino’s directorial debut and the theme song was written by Paul Williams!