Review of Bullitt (1968) by Christopher S — 12 Feb 2010

The classic crime drama is a prime example of slick 60s cool, but is also incredibly uneven. Stylishly directed by Peter Yates, with excellent cinematography by William Fraker, and a great jazz score by Lalo Schifrin - and, of course, there's that legendary car chase scenes, as well as several other finely-crafted action and suspense scenes.

But the pacing is surprisingly slow, the plot murky, and the characters cold and stiff - which makes the story never as consistently compelling as it should be. Worth watching for the great action scenes and precision filmmaking on display, but too flawed to be the classic of its reputation.