Detour

Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer, Detour follows Tom Neal’s Al Roberts as he stumbles into a whole mess of trouble after encountering a hitchhiker named Vera (Ann Savage). It’s a compelling setup that’s employed to watchable yet pervasively erratic effect by Ulmer, as the filmmaker, working from Martin Goldsmith’s screenplay, delivers a somewhat low-rent production that suffers from an overuse of voice-over narration – with the arms-length atmosphere, at least, alleviated by compelling performances and a smattering of compelling (and surprising) sequences and interludes. There is, in terms of the former, little doubt that Detour‘s most potent weapon is Savage, as the actress does a superb job of transforming her fairly underwritten figure into a fierce, almost iconic femme-fatale type – with the movie, as a result, generally at its best when focused on the back-and-forth banter between Al and Vera. By the time the predictably grim closing stretch rolls around, Detour has confirmed its place as a decent-enough film noir that’s rarely as compelling or captivating as its admittedly stellar performances.

**1/2 out of ****