The Chase [DVD] [2004]

Difficult though it may be to think of it now, in 1966 both Robert Redford and Jane Fonda were only on the threshold of super-stardom.

Brando was, of course, an established star by this time -- but still with the modesty and professional curiousity to explore "interesting" parts. The Chase gives him full scope to do this through the character of the fundamentally good and upright town sheriff -- a role that enables him to investigate both the problems of policing a small Texas town full of seething emotions (only just below the surface) and the conflict that one man has to face within himself and as a consequence of his public duty.

The screenplay -- by the talented Lillian Helman from a book by the brilliant and prolific Horton Foote -- is tight, multi-layered and full of excellent thow-away one liners that rattle off the hides of the generally unpleasant minor characters without leaving any visible moral impression.

The combination of three leads together with the excellent support of Robert Duvall, Angie Dickinson and EG Marshall gives this little piece a cast that would be impossibly uneconomic to put together again within a few years (although Fonda and Redford reunited the following year for the frothy Neil Simon comedy Barefoot in the Park).

Not great but an interesting period piece from when America was just about getting uncomfortable with some of the truths about itself -- which little films like this were doing their bit to reveal.

The Chase is an excellent early film of Arthur Penn and every scene is imbued with intelligence.The story is simple:prison escapee Bubber Reeves(Robert Redford) returns to his hometown in search of shelter and justice,and manages, on the night of a community convention,to stir up a tsunami of guilt,corruption,lust,betrayal and violence,lurking not far beneath the surface.Penn imbues the story with a clarity and depth of vision to give it a mythic resonance as well as contemporary relevance.Brando was never better as a conscientious public servant.

Based on a play by Horton Foote,The Chase offers Penn's vision of a modern capitalist society in which the norm is victimization and greed,and the superficial mores and codes governing "polite behaviour "are simply for show.There is a constant tension between surface and reality,and as the film progresses,the strict social distinctions and structures witnessed simultaneously in 3 parties(those of Val,the Stewarts and the teenagers) begin to corrode, until at the end anarchy reigns as order breaks down completely(appropriately in a central junkyard).A sense of violence seething under the skin of a community is palpable,Penn's close work with the actors subtly revealing their characters in evidence.

Redford lying tired and soaked on a river bank after his arduous escape excitedly miming the act of shooting geese,or the fidgeting,uncomfortable manner of Sheriff Calder(Marlon Brando)in his formal attire for the convention(after we have seen him rigorously and lengthily get himself ready).This is a moral film,engaging with the whole concept of morality and human experience,uneasy bedfellows.It succeeds in conveying the immediacy and primacy of violence and social conflict.Penn never looks down on his characters nor lectures.He understands the source of violence,what its costs and effects areand he burns in the flames with the rest of us.A great starry cast,Brando the clasp holding it together,a standout performance giving life to the story.

Arthur Penn has set the stage for a great social satire on various issues like class distinction ,racial bigotry,Saturday night social revelvry,adultery and finally the failure of justice in a breach of the American dream in this taut drama set in a small Texan town on a warm Saturday night .

Redford plays a fugitive who has broken from prison and a lot of town's people are afraid for themselves,haunted by guilty conscience,as they have wronged him and fear revenge and this premise becomes a scathing viloent circus on the American obsession with the glorification of violence and anti-social behaviour.
Jane Fonda As Redford's wife and Brando as the town sheriff,desperately trying to save a gross injustice from taking place are trying to find him before he can be slaughtered as a sacrificial lamb by the town's people who need a cruel and barbaric ritual to entertain themselves .
This becomes an extremely powerful indictment on the failure of law to protect anyone as the social order descends into utter chaos ,at a savage level where ordinary people behave almost like gladiators in a Roman arena and this is extremely convincingly portrayed to give you goose bumps .
The disturbed consciences of a bourgeois drunken rabble are examined in a brutally affective manner by a master craftsman in s beautifully lit movie ,which moves from daylight through the mayhem of a chaotic night into the eerie light dawn of the next day .
This is one of the most powerful American dramas i have ever seen and it is a must for anyone who loves quality cinema .
A true masterpiece in the order of Orson Welles and Billy Wilder dramas by a master called Arthur Penn , the movie boasts Brando in one of his life's best roles with Redford and Jane fonda in top form ,also a great supporting cast with Robert Duvall,Bradford,E.G.MARSHALL,Angie Dickinson ,James fox make this a haunting but great piece of dramatic art .
I just love the way Penn uses the light and sound ingeniously to enhance his extremely realist plot and creates an atmosphere which is unequivocal in this masterpiece as the movie culminates into an unforgettable and extremely powerful climax .

The alcoholic excesses of a mob gone berserk on a hot summer night in a Texan bougeois community , culminating in a total mockery of justice and it becomes a commentary on decreipt social values with truth celebrated in it's naked realist glory.I have ssen this many times as it has many things to appreciate and ponder upon and i will suggest you watch it if you like realist cinema with great acting and direction .