The Nickel Ride (USA, 1974) 99 min color DIR-PROD: Robert Mulligan. SCR: Eric Roth. MUSIC: Dave Grusin. DOP: Jordan Cronenweth. CAST: Jason Miller, Linda Haynes, Victor French, John Hillerman, Bo Hopkins. (Shout! Factory)
Long unavailable after a short theatrical run, despite rave reviews from critics, and crime fans who did catch it at the time, The Nickel Ride makes its debut in any home video format courtesy of Shout! Factory. (This movie is paired in a set with another 70s crime pic, 99 & 44/100% Dead).
Jason Miller (fresh from playing The Exorcist) is low-level gangster Cooper, nicknamed “The Key Man”, as he holds the huge key ring for all the warehouses that store the mob’s hot items. He is negotiating to acquire more warehouse space, but the deal is becoming more elusive as time passes. Because this transaction is making him appear incompetent, he fears that he is going to be killed by the mob. In addition, he is instructed to show the ropes to this hayseed named Turner, nicknamed The Cadillac Cowboy.
In the tradition of great 70s movies, The Nickel Ride (produced and directed by Robert Mulligan) favours characterization over plot. As such, Eric Roth’s screenplay may appear muddled on the surface, but it is more interested in behaviour than action. It is fascinating viewing alone for the way in which we blur through a typical day of Cooper’s life: deal-making, pay-offs, and his odd fraternity with the locals at the bar. The story is also hazy since we are seeing all the mysterious goings-on solely from Cooper’s point of view.
Miller is solid in the lead, flanked with good support by John Hillerman as his dapper boss and Linda Haynes as his girlfriend Sarah (this film wisely makes a female character more prominent than others in crime pictures). But still, Bo Hopkins steals the film as The Cadillac Cowboy: in his buckskin jacket (with a pot crest on the back), and tan aviator glasses he brings some unexpected comedy relief, but also a sense of disquiet. The Nickel Ride is a very fine crime picture that is all character and mood: the latter is accented by Dave Grusin’s score and Jordan Cronenweth’s spellbinding cinematography.
Originally published in Vol.. #1, Issue 25.
Greg Woods
Greg Woods has been a film enthusiast since his teens, and began his writing "career" at the same time- prolific in capsule reviews of everything he had watched, first on index cards, then those hardcover dollar store black journals, then an old Mac IIsi. He founded The Eclectic Screening Room in 2001, as a portal to share his film love with the world, and find some like-minded enthusiasts along the way. In addition to having worked in the film industry for over two decades, he has been a co-programmer of films at Trash Palace, and a programmer/co-founder of the Toronto Film Noir Syndicate. He has also written for Broken Pencil, CU-Confidential, Micro-Film, and is currently working on his first novel. His secret desire is for someone to interview him for a podcast or a DVD extra.