Although The Sugarland Express has been compared to Thelma And Louise most often, there was a film that came out the following year from Stephen Spielberg's first big screen classic that it most resembles in my mind.Goldie Hawn's Lou Jean might not have all that much in common with Al Pacino's Eugene in Dog Day Afternoon except for two things. Neither are the sharpest knife in the drawer and both concoct a really whacked out scheme that gets them in way over their heads.Unlike Pacino who put a little thought into his bank robbery plan, on a visit to a minimum security prison to her husband William Atherton who has only weeks to go on his sentence, she persuades him to bust out to kidnap their baby who foster parents are looking to adopt. The parents are in Sugarland which is West Texas near the Rio Grande.They actually bust out quite easily. But then during a routine traffic stop they misread signals and take rookie state policeman Michael Sacks a hostage.Just like Dog Day Afternoon anyone with a working brain knows that this crazy thing is doomed, but the adrenaline rush for Hawn and Atherton is out of control. The two become popular cult figures one way or another. Hawn, Atherton, and Sack are fine in their roles. Kudos also go to Ben Johnson for his role as the man in charge of the hunt, the chase, and the hostage negotiation.Stephen Spielberg started his big screen career with a winner.

The Sugarland Express is most famous these days for being the first theatrical feature film from the soon-to-be-massive directorial wonder kid Steven Spielberg. It's by no means his first significant film, as he had already directed another earlier road movie, namely the seminal TV movie Duel (1971). But this was the first time that he had went beyond working for the TV studios and made a feature directly for cinema release. Despite receiving good notices, it flopped on release though. And because it fell in between the critical and commercial hits Duel and, of course, Jaws (1975) it seems to have been kind of forgotten to a certain extent. Given this director's subsequent fame I find it quite surprising how relatively obscure The Sugarland Express actually is, especially considering that it's actually a very good film.Seemingly based on real events, it focuses on a young outlaw couple who organise a jailbreak and then kidnap a police officer who attempts to apprehend them. They then drive over to Sugarland, Texas to try and take back their child, who has been given to foster parents on account of the authorities regarding these natural parents as being, unsurprisingly, unfit.What makes this one stand out quite a bit is that it is clearly a product of the New Hollywood. These American movies were director-led challenging works that were released predominantly in the 70's. This one's downbeat plot elements and lack of moral certainties marks it out as a clear example of this kind of thing. It also falls into a sub-category of New Hollywood movie, namely a lovers-on-the-run film. Films such as Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and Badlands (1973) were of this ilk and this one is another clear example. Maybe the public had begun to grow tired of this type of road movie by 1974 and this meant the film didn't do such good business at the box office. It's difficult to say but whatever the case, this is a fine example of this kind of thing. Goldie Hawn and William Atherton play the young criminals and do so very well, with Michael Sacks also impressive as the police officer they capture. Interestingly, the film goes a little against type by portraying the police captain who chases them in a very sympathetic manner. Usually these types of movies are very anti-authoritarian and anti-police but not so in this case, which adds a bit of extra depth in some ways because it's not spelt out to the audience who they should root for. Spielberg himself has went on the record to say that he believes the police to be the heroes in this film, with the main bad guys actually being the citizens who cheer the criminals on as part of the media circus generated by the televised nature of the case.This is a very fine film from Spielberg and in my view one of his actual best. It shows that in the days before he was so powerful that he could pick and choose his projects, he had to interpret material that wasn't necessarily 100% aligned to his sensibilities and also had to do so on a lower budget. I think the effect of this was that he was forced to utilise his obvious talent in a more lean and economical fashion, while in directing material further removed from his naturally more syrupy and sentimental disposition resulted in tougher and less morally certain films. With The Sugarland Express we get the best of both worlds.

n 1974, Spielberg finally stepped out of television work and into the major leagues. His first theatrical feature had a good deal in common with Duel in that it is another wall-to-wall car chase, only this time the results were far more human.Based on a true story, The Sugarland Express follows Lou Jean Poplin (Goldie Hawn) and her husband Clovis (William Atherton), whom she convinces to walk away from the pre-release program after several years on a prison stretch from which he is about to be released. She's desperate because their two-year old son Langdon has been taken by The State of Texas and has been given over to a foster family.What follows is one damned thing after another. Clovis and Lou Jean steal a car and, in a bizarre twist, end up kidnapping a good-hearted young patrolman named Slide (Michael Sacks). Meanwhile the police don't want to upset the couple since they have Slide at gunpoint. The two become national heroes to the public and prey for local gun-nuts.It takes some time to sink in, but as your watch the film you get the feeling that the themes of The Sugarland Express are ahead of their time. The idea of two fugitives on the lam on a mission of mercy whose plight captivates the public is more current now then it was in 1974. Lou Jean and Clovis become darlings of the media even though what they're doing is wreckless and unlawful.For me, while it has noble intentions, it is problematic at a very base level. Yes, it's based on a true story, but it asks us to accept fundamental flaws that keep us from really getting involved in the story. I suppose that when the movie was made, it was during a time when outlaws were seen by the public as heroes. The image of authority figures had been tainted by the police beatings of demonstrators in the 1960s and by a nationwide trucker strike in the early 70s. The Sugarland Express seems to be feeding that legacy, yet it fails to win us over because fundamentally we are not on the same page as the movie. Clovis and Lou Jean could easily have worked the system without going on the lam so their ill-advised decision keeps us at odds with their plight.Plus, the chase goes on for days and days when in reality it might have gone on for maybe a day. By this point we've seen so many police dash-cam videos that let us know how the police work in this situation that it seems impossible that such a thing could drag on as long as it does. But, maybe that's not the point, maybe this is supposed to be seen as an outlaw fantasy. I could buy that if it weren't based on a true story. This is a technically good movie with an interesting premise that just never really grabs at the heartstrings it is reaching for.

Steven Spielberg's theatrical feature film debut is a smartly crafted, expertly composed & skilfully executed adventure drama that clearly exhibits the legendary director's penchant for turning an on-screen moment into a larger-than-life event without ever going over the top and is also significant for marking the commencement of one of cinema's greatest collaborations.Based on a true story, The Sugarland Express tells the story of a young woman who successfully breaks her husband out of prison to help her assist retrieving her child, about to be placed in the care of foster parents. Things soon take a turn for the unexpected when they're left with no choice but to take a patrolman hostage & are pursued by the police throughout their journey.Directed by Steven Spielberg, the film wonderfully introduces many of his trademarks & themes that would continue to recur in his later works and is a solid work that has enough style & substance to keep the viewers engaged for the most part. Camera-work is dynamic, makes excellent angle choices & remains consistent throughout while editing steadily paces its narrative.Coming to the acting department, the cast comprises of Goldie Hawn, Ben Johnson, William Atherton & Michael Sacks amongst which it's Hawn who chips in with the most impressive performance. Marking his first collaboration with Spielberg, John William provides a score that beautifully reflects the film's tone with tracks that are adventurous, light-hearted & at the same moment, slightly poignant.On an overall scale, The Sugarland Express is one of Spielberg's highly underrated flicks & although far from a masterpiece, it's still a quality work of passionate filmmaking that's admirable for a number of things. Full of crowd-pleasing elements, presenting the then-young filmmaker refining his craft & an indication of greater things to come, The Sugarland Express is a must for Spielberg's fans as well as critics.