THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS
Starring: Goldie Hawn, Ben Johnson, Michael Saks & William Atherton
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Written by: Hal Barwood & Matthew Robbins
Story by:
Rated: PG
Running Time: 1hr 50mins
Cannes Film Festival
“For the most part, it’s about the faces, it’s about the characters, it’s about who they are to each other… …the complexity was more into the people then it was in the landscape. “ – Director – Steven Spielberg
Director Steven Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the most influential filmmakers in cinema history. He is also one of the most successful. Having created iconic films such as E.T., RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, and JURASSIC PARK, his name has become synonymous with the Hollywood blockbuster. At the same time, he has demonstrated his versatility with more serious-minded projects like SCHINDLER’S LIST, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, and THE COLOR PURPLE. Simply put, throughout his career, Spielberg has proven himself to be a master of cinema and just having the phrase “directed by Steven Spielberg” on a film has always been enough to get people rushing to the theaters. That said, he still has at least one feature film that has not received the attention it deserves and many movie lovers don’t even know it exists. THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS was Spielberg’s very first American theatrical release (1971’s DUEL was released in cinemas internationally but was actually a made-for-TV movie in the United States). It played for only two weeks before Universal Studios decided they weren’t satisfied with the small box office returns and pulled it from theaters. Then, his next film, JAWS, made him a star, and unfortunately, THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS was quickly forgotten. Viewers were left to discover it on home video, where it still struggled to find an audience.
With this first feature film, Spielberg effectively showcases the lessons he learned from his many years working on television shows like COLUMBO, MARCUS WELBY, M.D. and NIGHT GALLERY while also making TV movies such as DUEL, SAVAGE and SOMETHING EVIL. THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS presents an amazing introduction to certain style elements that the young director would eventually perfect throughout his career. As a debut film, it’s both engaging and ambitious, seamlessly blending emotion with entertainment in a way that very few first-time directors have managed to achieve.
Based on an article that Spielberg read in a small newspaper, the story follows Lou Jean Poplin, a determined young woman who manipulates her husband, Clovis, into escaping from a minimum-security prison where he is serving the final four months of his sentence. Together, they embark on a desperate mission to reclaim the custody of their infant son, who has been taken from them and placed into the foster care system. Along the way, their escape takes a dramatic turn when they are pursued by police officer Maxwell Slide, whom they ultimately take hostage and as they journey to Sugarland, where their baby now resides, they become the focus of an escalating police chase, trailed by a growing convoy of squad cars led by Captain Tanner.
Being a road movie where the main characters are on the run from the law, the film features its fair share of car chases and car crashes, all executed to perfection (I have to admit that I find it refreshing to revisit a film like this, where practical effects and the skill of stunt performers deliver the same kind of sequences that are often created today with CGI). However, the action and effects are never the primary focus. Instead, the story keeps its attention firmly focused on the characters and their emotional journeys. Even early in his career, Spielberg understood that movies aren’t just about spectacle—they’re about the people navigating their way through the story and the struggles they must overcome. The script by Hal Barwood and Matthew Robbins has numerous scenes that revolve around the characters’ emotional states of mind, and the story is more effective because of this. One of my favorite moments is a quiet one. Settling down for the night, Lou Jean and Clovis share a moment when Clovis tells his wife, “You’re my wife and I love you, even if we don’t get the baby.” Lou Jean stays quiet, as this is not what she wants to hear. She then turns away and distracts herself from what was just said by watching the Coyote and Roadrunner cartoon playing on a drive-in screen in the distance. It’s a small scene, yet an emotionally effective one that says a lot about the characters and how they feel deep down before giving a subtle hint about what will happen at the end of the journey. In THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS, Spielberg skillfully balances poignant moments like this with humor and action to create a rich and engaging experience. The result is a movie that entertains with its set pieces while remaining deeply grounded in its characters, offering a well-rounded and satisfying watch.
Visually, the film is stunning as well. THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS marks the director’s first collaboration with one of cinema’s greatest cinematographers, Vilmos Zsigmond, with whom he would later work with again on CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND. Together, they utilize mostly natural lighting to give the film a real down-to-earth atmosphere. Challenged with the task of taking a road picture where much of its runtime occurs inside the small space of a car and keeping it visually interesting, Spielberg and Zsigmond create some truly innovative images that showcase the action taking place, as well as the characters. At one point, the viewer is given a shot where the screen is split in two as the camera faces out the front windshield of Captain Tanner’s car. The viewer can see Lou Jean at the bottom of the screen in the car ahead, while Tanner can be seen in the rearview mirror at the top of the frame. This creatively allows the audience an opportunity to experience an emotional connection between the two, even though they are in separate cars. There is also an amazing shot from inside the car that rotates 360 degrees, as well as the interesting compositions used to show the line of cars that are following the lead characters. Then, of course, we are at one point given the dolly zoom that Spielberg famously used in his next film, JAWS.
THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS also gives audiences the very first collaboration between Spielberg and composer John Williams. Williams’s score here is one of the best that he ever composed for a Spielberg film, and ironically enough, it is also one of the simplest. Bringing in musician Toots Thielemans to play the harmonica, which makes up a lot of the soundtrack, Williams has created a musical backdrop that is very different from the 28 other scores that he would go on to create for Spielberg throughout their careers. Its understated and intimate tone reflects the humanity of the film’s characters while fitting perfectly with the vast, empty landscape they travel through.
As the film’s lead, actress Goldie Hawn delivers a compelling performance and it should be noted that her involvement in the film was pivotal in helping a young Spielberg get it made. The studio would only greenlight the project if there was a star attached and Hawn was who he chose to use. Though still early in her career, roles such as her Oscar-winning performance in the film CACTUS FLOWER, as well as her involvement in ROWAN & MARTIN’S LAUGH-IN, made her bankable and with the role of Lou Jean, Hawn gives one of her best performances. Lou Jean is a woman whose tunnel vision is aimed at getting her child back, giving her a relentless determination that drives her to make the reckless decisions that place both her and Clovis into this out-of-control situation. While Hawn is often remembered for her comedic roles in films like PRIVATE BENJAMIN and OVERBOARD, she excels in this more serious role. Lou Jean’s motivations are selfish and at first, she doesn’t seem to care about how her decisions affect those around her. She only wants to get her child back so that she can have her family together again. As the movie begins, the viewer will see her as a bad person, but because Hawn effectively makes her relatable and genuinely sympathetic at times, it becomes evident that her motivations are of the kind that any parent will be able to relate to. It’s almost as if the film is asking, “What would you do if your child was taken away from you?”
Lou Jean’s husband, Clovis, is played by William Atherton, an actor that most will remember fondly from the movie DIE HARD. He portrays Clovis as a desperate man who just wants things to work out no matter what, making it easy for Lou Jean to manipulate him. So many of his decisions are made to please her so that she won’t run off and leave him. Numerous times, it’s Clovis who suggests that they give themselves up before things get out of hand, but it’s always Lou Jean who convinces him to keep moving forward. Hawn and Atherton have a great rapport and whether the two characters are bickering back and forth or sharing a tender moment (like the one mentioned above), the two feel like a genuine couple and even though they are in the wrong, they become very easy to root for in the end.
What really pulls everything together, though, is the character of Maxwell Slide, the cop that Lou Jean and Clovis hold hostage. Portrayed by Michael Saks, he is the character that the individual viewer will relate to most. He is our eyes and ears and it’s his character arc that adds some real depth to what we are watching. When he first meets Lou Jean and Clovis, he views them in the same way that the viewer does, as criminals on the run who have an agenda that makes them dangerous. He fears them and wants to bring them to justice. Yet as the film moves forward and the genuine reality of who these two characters are starts to reveal itself, Slide begins to sympathize with them and starts to see them as normal people who just want to get their kids back, even if they are doing it in the wrong way. He begins to befriend them and all of his emotions mirror those of the viewer as we also begin to care for Lou Jean and Clovis. What makes the relationship even more special is how Spielberg handles it. They don’t become best friends as we have seen in other films. They still have their issues with each other, and it shows.
Some of the more interesting moments in the movie come from the supporting characters, who appear in only a scene or two yet add some really interesting moments that help create a realistic background for everything happening. There’s an old man who sits in the back of a police cruiser during the movie’s first car chase whose dialogue feels really natural because Spielberg cast someone who wasn’t an actor but instead was someone he discovered in the real world and then told to just speak whatever came to mind. Then, there’s the couple that Lou Jean and Clovis get a ride from as they escape from the prison. In very little of the film, they are still so memorable that I personally wanted a follow-up movie about just them. My favorite, though, is a woman who, toward the end of the movie, tells Lou Jean, “It’s your baby. Don’t let no one take him away from you.” These are all small characters that would normally be used briefly only to help move the story forward, but under Spielberg’s careful direction, they become fully developed characters despite their limited screen time, adding an interesting and more realistic quality to the film that helps set it apart.
Lastly, there are the characters who fill out the background of many of the film’s wider shots. Some of them don’t say anything, yet they are still important because of the way they help enhance the film’s atmosphere. From the man fixing his car in the film’s opening shot of Lou Jean getting off a bus to the tow truck drivers who get into a shoving match at the scene of a car accident, these are characters that the film doesn’t need but is better because they are there. They basically add depth to the environment surrounding the main action. Spielberg doesn’t focus on these characters; he lets them exist almost unnoticed. It may be Lou Jean, Clovis and Slide’s story that the viewer is following, but there are still people living life in the real world surrounding the action, and as a director, Spielberg realizes this and incorporates it into the visuals.
THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS is an important entry in Steven Spielberg’s filmography. Not only is it his first feature film, but it also showcases the beginning of a substantial career to come. Is it as good as the best in his list of accomplishments, like CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND or SCHINDLER’S LIST? Maybe not (of course, few films from even the greatest directors are), but it’s still a fun and emotional ride worthy of checking out and enjoying. My recommendation is to forget that Steven Spielberg directed it. Let it stand on its own instead of comparing it to his body of work, and you will be glad to have discovered this underseen gem.
Watch THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS
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