Grand Theft Auto (1977)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Ron Howard made his directorial debut with this Roger Corman chase picture. In the film Howard plays Sam Freeman, a man who runs off with his rich girlfriend (Paula Powers) who just happened to steal her father's Rolls Royce. Soon her fiancé (Paul Linke) from a pre-arranged marriage is on the chase as is his mother, various cops and countless other people who jump in on the bounty placed on the runaways. This certainly isn't APOLLO 13 or A BEAUTIFUL MIND but even with his first film I think it's clear to see that there was some talent sitting in that director's chair. Howard does a pretty good job with this film as there's really not too much you can ask for in a chase picture except that it be fast and fun. GRAND THEFT AUTO is certainly a lot of fun for fans of the genre because it offers up some non-stop chases, plenty of action and some pretty memorable characters as well. The action in the film pretty much starts at the two-minute mark and never lets up as we get all sorts of wild chases and car crashes. It really does seem as if everyone just sat around trying to come up with the various ways you could crash cars either into one another or into various objects. Not only do we get a Rolls Royce but there's also a redneck truck, an ice cream truck, cop cars, a church bus and just about everything else as well. With the action certainly there, the next important thing was coming up with memorable characters and that's here. I thought the supporting group of "chasers" were a lot of fun and especially Marion Ross as the fiancé's mother who won't back down until she gets her baby back. I thought it was pretty funny watching her go against a cop who is constantly trying to arrest her. The obnoxious fiancé is another good part and it's made quite memorable by actor Paul Linke who does a good job making him someone we can laugh at. We even get a nice bit from Clint Howard playing a dimwitted mechanic. Howard and Nancy Morgan do a nice job together even with their characters being the least interesting in the film. I think some of the biggest credit should go to Joe Dante who edited the picture. Howard was obviously working with a very small budget but the editing really kept the film going, made it rather stylish and also made it look like it was a much bigger picture. GRAND THEFT AUTO isn't a masterpiece but it's a fun piece of drive-in entertainment.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Ron Howard made his directorial debut with this Roger Corman chase picture. In the film Howard plays Sam Freeman, a man who runs off with his rich girlfriend (Paula Powers) who just happened to steal her father's Rolls Royce. Soon her fiancé (Paul Linke) from a pre-arranged marriage is on the chase as is his mother, various cops and countless other people who jump in on the bounty placed on the runaways. This certainly isn't APOLLO 13 or A BEAUTIFUL MIND but even with his first film I think it's clear to see that there was some talent sitting in that director's chair. Howard does a pretty good job with this film as there's really not too much you can ask for in a chase picture except that it be fast and fun. GRAND THEFT AUTO is certainly a lot of fun for fans of the genre because it offers up some non-stop chases, plenty of action and some pretty memorable characters as well. The action in the film pretty much starts at the two-minute mark and never lets up as we get all sorts of wild chases and car crashes. It really does seem as if everyone just sat around trying to come up with the various ways you could crash cars either into one another or into various objects. Not only do we get a Rolls Royce but there's also a redneck truck, an ice cream truck, cop cars, a church bus and just about everything else as well. With the action certainly there, the next important thing was coming up with memorable characters and that's here. I thought the supporting group of "chasers" were a lot of fun and especially Marion Ross as the fiancé's mother who won't back down until she gets her baby back. I thought it was pretty funny watching her go against a cop who is constantly trying to arrest her. The obnoxious fiancé is another good part and it's made quite memorable by actor Paul Linke who does a good job making him someone we can laugh at. We even get a nice bit from Clint Howard playing a dimwitted mechanic. Howard and Nancy Morgan do a nice job together even with their characters being the least interesting in the film. I think some of the biggest credit should go to Joe Dante who edited the picture. Howard was obviously working with a very small budget but the editing really kept the film going, made it rather stylish and also made it look like it was a much bigger picture. GRAND THEFT AUTO isn't a masterpiece but it's a fun piece of drive-in entertainment.