Barry Newman is best known for playing the enigmatic driver in the car chase movie Vanishing Point, and I also know him playing Peter Fonda’s security man several decades later in Steven Soderbergh’s The Limey. To see him play a tough guy role like in Fear Is The Key (1972), he is wiry and compact, but also feels like a character actor in a leading man part – similar to how Gene Hackman gives something grounded and no-nonsense when he’s the main star of an action movie. Based on an Alistair Maclean novel (The Guns Of Navarone, Where Eagles Dare), this adaptation follows through as a nail-biting page-turner, a pulp thriller that is best enjoyed without knowing too much, riding along with all of its twists and turns. I had a vague idea where Fear Is The Key was going, but it was still a satisfying experience due to the patience the movie has for unveiling the plot, even as it is serving up an extended, near-20-minute car chase sequence in the first act for all of the 1970s drive-in action movie fans. There’s a bit of everything from a neo-noir sensibility, a Louisiana coastal mystery vibe, as well as a military mission movie. We open with Newman on a transistor radio, talking to small transport plane he is guiding to land. When things go wrong, we fade out – returning to Newman driving into a small town and becoming aggressive at a service station diner. What happens next, I’ll leave that for you to discover… From there, we also have Suzy Kendall unwittingly involved in everything, John Vernon naturally playing a sinister, officious role, and even a young Ben Kingsley as an intense hitman. Snazzy score by Roy Budd and directed by Michael Tuchner. Watched the Imprint Films Blu-ray release. Even with all of the plot machinations, Newman gives it ballast, and a few grace notes as well. Recommended.
VHS Tracking 