While funnily enough I’ve seen both of the Jason Statham remakes of The Mechanic (1972), I’ve never seen the original even though I’m a fan of Charles Bronson. Directed by Michael Winner, after they’d made Chato’s Land but before the box office smash success of the first Death Wish movie, this stars the granite faced Bronson (with impeccable moustache and floppy hair) as a professional hitman, colloquially referred to as a “mechanic”, who often organises murders to look like accidents or natural causes. We witness him on the job in the first sequence, which seems perfect for Bronson’s acting wheelhouse in that he says very little and it’s basically the process of him doing things. After he is ordered to target an associate he’s known since he was a kid, a dodgy businessman played by Keenan Wynn, he starts to lose his touch. In the most intriguing part of the movie, the character suffers from anxiety and ennui (not emotional states you’d usually associate with Bronson), and thus begins an intriguing relationship with the dodgy businessman’s son, a buff, vaguely hippish hunk played by Jan-Michael Vincent. This kid wants to get into the dirty business of killing people for money, and Bronson’s character finds himself compelled to act the part of the teacher. Apparently it was more direct in terms of their partnership being gay in the original script by Lewis John Carlino, but a certain homoeroicism still lingers alongside the generational clash; there’s a vaguely Once Upon A Time In Hollywood air to the acting pairing as well with the old experienced hand having to deal with a hippie teen idol type. There are some twists and turns, but it’s 1972 so the twists aren’t completely convoluted or high tech like the remake. Overall, The Mechanic was more intriguing than I expected, and was a solid Bronson action thriller. Recommended.
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