Simply Perfect

Memorable, crazy movie

Excellent adaptation.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

It is quite something to see a hit man take care of exploited prostitutes. Rather cheesy romantically, but there you have it, that is the story of Prime Cut. In this movie Lee Marvin gets an assignment to assassinate Gene Hackman, a red neck drug dealer, who has been skimming of money from the mob. The violence involved with this assassination attempt is portrayed rather cool and righteous. However the good guy story about the hit man who starts caring about women who get used as prostitutes is not very convincing, although it certainly is a nice gangsters fairytale. Sissy Spacek in her younger years portrays one of those prostitutes who gets saved from further exploitation.Acting is great though. Gene Hackman as well as Lee Marvin both play two ruthless killers, however Lee Marvin is the righteous gentleman killer, who only kills if he has to, like a cool headed professional would.Gen Hackman on the other hand plays a real psychopathic bastard. Great performance. Sissy Spacek became a wonderful actress later in life, but in her first role ever she plays a terribly naive child girl and her acting is not very convincing, mainly because of the rather cheesy romantic sub story, wherein the hit man suddenly feels the need to start caring for exploited women. It is not her fault, but the stories fault.To summarize: Action is suspenseful. Acting is cool. Story somewhat cheesy at certain moments, especially the very rosy ending, which I wont reveal here. All in all a tough seventies hit man flick, with an out of place cheesy Hollywood happy ending.

Prime Cut is a solid & dependable 70s action flick. There are no great negative points to the film, but then there are no real outstanding one's either. Everything here is as you'd expect it: Lee Marvin plays Lee Marvin & Gene Hackman plays the Gene Hackman we've seen in almost everything he's been in (the notable exception being Coppola's 'The Convocation'.). While neither of these things are bad, in fact its probably why we watch most of their pictures, Prime Cut delivers them in a very unexceptional way. Neither actor really pulls out any stops and neither performance will go down in ethers roll of honour list. Much the same can be said about the plot. If you're currently 15mins into this film and think you have an idea of how its going to pan out, I can tell you now that you're almost definitely right. I appreciate this is coming across as a real slating of the film. Its not. As I said, Marvin playing Marvin and Hackman, Hackman are what we tune in for. As predictable as the plot is its certainly not unenjoyable. The shoot-outs are fun to watch and the dialogue pretty slick. Cinematographer Gene Polito did a fantastic job on the tense combine harvester scene, which echo's of Hitchcocks crop duster chase in North By Northwest. Hackman comes across well as a pretty brutal and sadistic bad guy, which is set up very effectively mostly by showing us the aftermath of his crimes as they've occur off screen and leaving it to the viewers imagination.Prime Cut is a fun action flick, but nothing really more than that. You'll enjoy the experience but probably wont be adding it to that 'Films to Re-Watch' list you have on IMDb. If you're ever presented with the choice, go with Don Siegels classic Lee Marvin action flick Point Blank (1967), or Night Moves (1975) with Hackman instead.Fun to watch and brutal at times, but predictable and ultimately nothing special. 7/10 (Good).

Just a year after copping the 1971 Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of one of the most dogged detectives in screen history--"Popeye" Doyle, in "The French Connection"--Gene Hackman was back in theaters playing a character very much on the other side of the law. In the woefully underrated "Prime Cut," which opened in June '72, Hackman played a dope-peddling, slave-trafficking gangster named (shades of Johnny Cash's "A Boy Named Sue") Mary Ann, who is also the legitimate operator of Mary Ann's Meats, a slaughterhouse and meatpacking plant outside Kansas City, Kansas. As the film opens, we see the inner workings of this factory, in a scene guaranteed to turn the stomachs of not only the audience's vegetarians, but possibly its carnivores, as well. The strange sight of a man's shoe on the assembly line is soon explained, as we learn that Chicago mob boss Jake (Eddie Egan) has just been sent a package of sausage made from the remains of a recent "enforcer" that he had sent to Mary Ann's place to collect $500,000 in owed monies; the third enforcer to wind up dead after being sent to the slaughterhouse. Thus, Jake has no choice but to resort to his old buddy Nick Devlin (supercool Lee Marvin), who, despite being semiretired, cannot resist the $50,000 fee to do this bit of dirty collecting. And so off Nick goes, accompanied by three young Irish toughs and a limo driver, and armed with a submachine gun, on the long drive from Chicago to KC. But when the team arrives at Mary Ann's compound, it finds not only a stubbornly defiant Mary Ann, but also stock pens filled with drugged and naked young women, ready to be sold to the highest bidders. And after rescuing the pretty Poppy (Sissy Spacek, in her film debut), Devlin must soon contend with Mary Ann, his brutish brother Weenie (Gregory Walcott), and all of Mary Ann's assorted rural henchmen....Featuring some surprisingly gorgeous photography of the heartland countryside, unexpected bursts of strong violence, a witty script from Robert Dillon and three terrific performances by its three leads, "Prime Cut" turns out to be a real winner, indeed. The film boasts at least three action highlights: in the first, Nick and Poppy flee from Mary Ann's country goons through a county fair and into a camouflaging field of wheat; in the next, which comes immediately after this Hitchcockian sequence, the two must escape the razor-sharp blades of a fast-moving combine harvester; and in the third, brilliantly shot action scene, Nick and his men engage in a pitched gun battle with Mary Ann's gang in a field of gigantic sunflowers. This last is a particularly well-done sequence, preceded by a moody lightning storm; I love the way the camera follows behind Devlin as he makes his way through those garishly bright flower heads. As revealed in Spacek's new autobiography, "My Extraordinary Ordinary Life," the film was actually shot outside Calgary, Alberta, whose wide-open wheat fields certainly do a fine job of simulating Kansas. Spacek also reveals in her book that Marvin was very easy to work with--the two DO have a strangely effective chemistry on screen, despite the differences in their ages and personae--and that he warned her that, when he was drinking, if his green eyes ever turned blue, she should keep her distance from him...advice that she apparently respected! Spacek surprisingly appears topless in this, her first screen role, and indeed, this scene is not the film's only risqué moment; well do I recall the spread that "Playboy" magazine did on "Prime Cut" that month, showcasing all the many female slaves, naked and doped up in their pens.Of course, much of the credit for this film's artistic success must be given to director Michael Ritchie. This was Ritchie's second theatrical film, after years of work on television programs and the Robert Redford vehicle "Downhill Racer" (also featuring Gene Hackman), and he would go on to helm such popular entertainments as "The Candidate" (with Redford again), "The Bad News Bears," "Semi-Tough" and "Fletch." Ritchie here demonstrates a sure hand not only with exciting action scenes, but with quieter, more personal moments as well, and is quite adept at moving that ol' camera around! Kudos also to famed Argentine composer Lalo Schifrin for his understated, moody score; Schifrin was responsible for a whopping 78 film scores during his great career, plus 12 for TV, including, of course, his most famous piece of music: the theme song for TV's "Mission: Impossible." Ultimately, however, it is Lee Marvin's effortless sangfroid that steals the show here; what a wonderfully tough performance from this Hollywood icon! Clocking in at 86 minutes, "Prime Cut" is a compact thrill ride that effectively showcases the talents of all concerned. See it, you must...but NOT, of course, while eating a hamburger or sausage sandwich....

On paper. Falls short in reality. Well short.Hackman, Marvin and co are mobsters involved in a spat over money.Let the shooting, beating and butchering begin. Throw in human trafficking for good measure. All this set in rural America and Marvin's car.Acting, directing and action are passable. Chase in the fields and homicidal harvester are memorable. Should be a good movie but it never really is. Just off somehow.These guys have done better work so they can be forgiven. Spacek will help you make it a full pardon .Any and every criticism just died at the first sight of her. Beautiful doesn't even begin to cover it. The woman is walking around naked but you would have to first get your eyes off that face to notice. Hypnotic. Makes an otherwise miss, a must see. Will watch this again for her alone.Still radiant in her sixties. Sadly they don't make them like her any more.Wish them well.Thank you.