Review of Bullitt (1968) by Alec B — 17 May 2011

This taciturn police procedural is best remembered now for the epic chase scene fitted into the heart of it. This is fitting, because aside from this, and a climactic chase through the San Francisco/Oakland airport, the film boasts few truly thrilling sequences, choosing instead to take a measured, objective look at police work. Long stretches of the film pass with little or no dialogue, and scenes like the one where, from a distance, we see Bullitt (Steve McQueen) dining with his girlfriend (Jacqueline Bisset), and the only sound heard is Lalo Schifrin's muted, melancholy score, or like the slickly incoherent opening-credits montage, may lead one to think of the film as a typically 60s exercise in style over substance. But then you have the final moments of the film, where Bullitt looks wearily at his own reflection, and it becomes clear that the film is a bit more clever than one may give it credit for being.

The screenplay by Alan Trustman and Harry Kleiner is still a bit lacking in depth, and the film can become a touch sluggish at times; there are a couple of ham-fisted scenes with Bullitt's girlfriend, including one where she chides him for his detached nature. But Peter Yates' direction is strong, emphasizing the semi-documentary aspects of the story while skating by the romantic subplot as smoothly as he can. The famed car chase is, of course, thrilling (Frank P. Keller won an Oscar for his editing, and deservedly), and the cat-and-mouse airport finale, if less flashy, is more satisfying in narrative terms. And Yates does well with the quieter scenes as well, his pacing being sure and steady.

Bullitt remains one of McQueen's most iconic roles, and he is ideally cast; it would be easy for Bullitt to come off as emotionless, but McQueen embodies him so well that he becomes a professional, not a robot. Bullitt is a bit burnt-out, but firmly dedicated to his job--making Bisset's scene of protest even more extraneous. Bisset herself isn't really that bad, and her loveliness is clearly the reason the character even exists (there are no other female roles of consequence); her character is just superfluous to the actual story. Not at all superfluous is Robert Vaughn, as the coldly ambitious Chalmers, whose desire to subpoena a Chicago gangster gets Bullitt involved in the first place. The role doesn't really ask Vaughn to stretch, but he is eminently believable as the self-important thorn in Bullitt's side. Fine support is offered by Don Gordon as Bullitt's partner and Simon Oakland as his chief. Robert Duvall has a small role as a taxi driver who encountered the gangster in question; it's not a distinctive role, and Duvall makes no great impression.

William A. Fraker's cinematography is coolly composed and easy on the eyes; Schifrin's score is quite good, reflecting the quiet nature of much of the film, but bursting occasionally (as it does at the start) into modish energy.

BULLITT is not quite a masterpiece, but it takes a simple story of police work, tells it clearly and intriguingly, and throws in a couple of masterful action sequences for flavor. It's an engaging film.