Bullitt

Directed by Peter Yates, Bullitt follows Steve McQueen’s tough-as-nails Frank Bullitt, a San Francisco cop, as he embarks on a quest to find and arrest the shady villain who killed a witness under his protection. Filmmaker Yates, armed with Alan R. Trustman and Harry Kleiner’s screenplay, delivers a predictably deliberate endeavor that emphasizes Bullitt’s methodical investigation and various encounters with underworld figures, and it’s clear, certainly, that the movie benefits rather substantially from its raft of stellar performances, led by McQueen’s ice-cold yet completely captivating efforts, and assortment of spellbinding interludes – with, in terms of the latter, the justifiably iconic car chase still as engrossing and electrifying as ever. (It doesn’t hurt, either, that the film boasts plenty of impressively tense suspense-oriented sequences, including a gripping stretch detailing an assassin’s exploits within a busy hospital.) There’s little doubt, however, that Bullitt‘s procedural-focused narrative does pave the way for a somewhat hit-and-miss midsection, although such concerns are ultimately rendered moot by a striking, riveting climax that ensures the picture ends on a fairly memorable note – with the end result a mostly engaging piece of work that seems to have established the template for a certain kind of cop movie (and television show).

*** out of ****