ROLLING THUNDER (1977) ¢ ¢ ¢ 1/2
D: John Flynn
William Devane, Tommy Lee Jones, Linda Haynes,
James Best, Luke Askew, Dabney Coleman
A Vietnam vet returns to the States, damaged after years as a prisoner of war, to a son who doesn't remember him, a wife who's hooked up with another man, and a world that's passed him by. When some lowlifes invade his home, steal his money, gun down his family and shove his hand down the garbage disposal, he bides his time, and then he gets even. William Devane's a curious choice for something like this, not the returning-vet part, but the revenge-with-a-sawed-off-shotgun part, and that's part of what makes the movie work. Want to know what "Coming Home" might've looked like in the hands of Walter Hill or Sam Peckinpah? Something like this.
Dabney Coleman
(1932-2024)
