Malone

Malone casts Burt Reynolds as the title character, a former CIA hitman who finds himself stranded in a small town after his car breaks down. It’s in said small town that Malone meets and befriends a kindly mechanic (Scott Wilson’s Paul) and his daughter (Cynthia Gibb’s Jo), with problems inevitably ensuing as an evil land developer (Cliff Robertson’s Delaney) begins causing trouble with Malone and his new acquaintances. It’s a decidedly well-worn premise that’s employed to underwhelming effect by filmmaker Harley Cokeliss, with the most prominent issue here an almost unreasonably deliberate pace that highlights the various deficiencies within Christopher Frank’s hackneyed screenplay. The leaden narrative is, from time to time, alleviated by the inclusion of admittedly stirring action sequences, with Malone’s ongoing encounters with Delaney’s various thugs certainly as entertaining and violent as one might’ve expected (and hoped for). Reynolds’ solid turn as the tough-as-nails protagonist is matched by a surprisingly solid supporting cast, and there’s little doubt that Robertson’s smarmy performance stands as a continuing highlight within the proceedings. Despite such positive attributes, however, Malone is simply unable to hold one’s interest for more than a few minutes at a time – with the movie’s raft of strong action beats, in the end, rendered moot by a hopelessly familiar (and poorly-paced) narrative.

** out of ****