The Moonshine War

Directed by Richard Quine, The Moonshine War follows Alan Alda’s Son Martin as he attempts to protect his cache of eight-year-old whiskey from a variety of nefarious figures (including Patrick McGoohan’s Frank Long and Richard Widmark’s Emmett Taulbee). Filmmaker Quine, working from Elmore Leonard’s screenplay, delivers an exceedingly sluggish and underwhelming drama that’s rarely, if ever, as compelling or interesting as one might’ve anticipated, which is a shame, certainly, given that the picture boasts a whole host of seemingly foolproof elements that are slowly-but-surely rendered moot – with the stirring premise and strong performances undoubtedly the most obvious casualties of Quine’s less-than-stellar approach to the material. (Widmark’s gleefully over-the-top turn as the despicable Taulbee remains a highlight from start to finish, at least.) And although the movie does contain a very small smattering of engaging sequences, with this particularly true of an electrifying interlude in which Taulbee’s menacing henchman (Lee Hazlewood’s Dual) steals the clothes off a couple at gunpoint, The Moonshine War ambles towards its entertaining yet far-from-memorable finale with a pronounced lack of forward momentum that cements its place as a disappointing misfire. (It’s worth noting, too, that Alda’s far-too-subdued turn does little to alleviate the uninvolving atmosphere.)

** out of ****