Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round 08/01/23

James Coburn’s starring film career began with projects he deemed ‘far-out’ — and writer-director Bernard Girard promptly hooked him on this eccentric thriller about an infallibly seductive con-man. It’s a low-key, non-violent puzzle picture about a perfect heist, and also a guessing game that skips from San Francisco to Denver to Boston to Los Angeles, all the while hiding an ironic narrative sting in its tail. Will Coburn’s brand of Cool prevail? The supporting cast mostly stays out of the way: Camilla Sparv, Aldo Ray, Nina Wayne, Robert Webber, Todd Armstrong, Michael Strong, Severn Darden — and even Rose Marie. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
08/01/23