Word: mcqueens
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...have sex with your secretary. The connection between adultery and hellfire has never been more firmly drawn in a modern setting. Meanwhile, upstairs in the penthouse, we learn a Conradian lesson--that if men in a dangerous situation act together, under the obvious leadership of men like Steve McQueen, they will be saved; but if they resort to the every-man-for-himself law of the jungle, they will die a horrible death...
Hence the cinema of the extreme, with visual effects and emotions so exaggerated that sheer volume is all that counts. Destroy Los Angeles; film a twelve-year-old girl masturbating with a crucifix: wallow in solitary confinement with Steve McQueen on Devil's Island--ten million dollar's worth of a dark screen. a few cockroaches, and no talking. I remember last summer, caught in a miserable little movie called The Terminal Man (from Michael Crichton, with George Segal), finding myself watching the Man (who has an alien machine brain lobotomized into his skull so that his actions are uncontrollable...
...roll into a room. It would be interesting to know, for instance, why the fire develops in such an erratic manner, hitting some floors brutally, then skipping ten or 20 before breaking out again. One would like to learn, as well, the larger strategic considerations that enter into Fireman McQueen's tactical decisions -all totally unexplained-or see some accurate demonstrations of the latest firefighting techniques...
This additional expense resulted in only marginally better taste. To be sure, the special effects are more persuasive than those of the other two films. Steve McQueen and Paul Newman bring authoritative dash to their work as, respectively, the fire captain and the architect who combine their charisma to minimize loss of life when the world's tallest building goes up in flames. Faye Dunaway provides the film's highest moments of suspense by nearly falling out of the damnedest dress you ever saw on several occasions. But looked at from an accountant's point of view...
...would have looked very much like Amazing Grace, a wheezy little family comedy starring "Moms" Mabley. Such excellent actors as Rosalind Cash and Moses Gunn are also lurking in the vicinity, and there are a couple of cameo appearances-for camp and sentimental value-by Stepin Fetchit and Butterfly McQueen. But the movie is clearly a vehicle for Moms...