Driver (A), September 1979

DRIVER (A) (USA, 1978: director Walter Hill)

RYAN O’NEAL, BRUCE DERN.  The motor car (or auto) has become the leading phallic symbol of the late 20th century (though why one needs such symbols defeats me!).  It’s not surprising, then, that movies about fast cars and handsome drivers make money – say a man’s slob, say his wife’s a . . . well, not quite what she should be . . . and he’ll laugh, albeit sheepishly; but say he’s a lousy driver, and the animal comes out of his soul and smoke out of his nostrils!  O’Neal is the handsome driver here – of a getaway car – and the handsome driver (like the cowboys of old, who never ran out of bullets) never runs out of gas (that’s petrol, for those of us enough to remember it), never crashes, and never runs out of concentration.  This is where I tend to run out of credulity.  The characters are two dimensional and the film tends to extol the gangster as hero; I didn’t like it – but the members of the audience with the animal coming out . . . and the smoke . . . etc.- they loved it.  So may you – when all’s said, the cars perform well and are inclined to be more handsome. . . . Plus A DOLPHIN STORY (U).  ( programme122 minutes)

Tickets for all performances 70p and £1.00