Duel

Steven Spielberg’s directorial debut, Duel follows mild-mannered businessman David Mann (Dennis Weaver) as he’s unwittingly caught up in a game of deadly cat-and-mouse with an unseen (and seemingly unstoppable) truck driver. Spielberg’s undeniable prowess behind the camera is in evidence right from Duel‘s opening frames, as the movie kicks off with a captivating sequence shot from the perspective of the central character’s car – with the narrative, past that point, segueing into a slow-burn first half revolving around the escalating conflict between Mann and the aforementioned truck driver. It’s perhaps not surprising to note, however, that Duel suffers from an increasingly meandering midsection, as Spielberg’s efforts at sustaining a full-length-feature running time pave the way for a number of padded-out and needless sequences. And while the movie boasts quite a few palpably tense moments – eg Mann attempts to figure out which patron at a diner is his relentless pursuer – there ultimately does reach a point at which Duel begins to wear out its welcome. (It’s a vibe that’s compounded by a final chase that goes on far too long.) The end result is an erratic yet sporadically thrilling piece of work that benefits from Weaver’s consistently engrossing performance, to be sure, and it’s ultimately clear that Duel stands as a surprisingly sturdy first effort for a filmmaker who would (obviously) go onto bigger and better things.

**1/2 out of ****