Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974)

Three and One Half Stars

Michael Cimino had some early success working on the screenplays for Silent Running and Magnum Force which was enough to land him in the director’s chair after selling his Thunderbolt and Lightfoot screenplay to Clint Eastwood’s production company. What followed was something combining a heist movie and a road picture featuring Jeff Bridges as the young drifter (Lightfoot) and Eastwood’s veteran thief (Thunderbolt). 

There’s nothing necessarily slow about this film—the opening erupts with a shootout and a car theft—but there’s a definite hangout vibe that permeates the action. Cimino isn’t afraid to take his time and let us wander with Eastwood and Bridges across the open landscapes of Idaho and Montana as they move from one jam to the next. The men pursuing Thunderbolt—George Kennedy and Geoffrey Lewis—are former partners who believe they were on the receiving end of a double-cross after their last heist. Following a brief physical confrontation with Red (Kennedy), Thunderbolt convinces the two to bury the hatchet and work with him again.

The four decide to recreate their previous job—robbing a Montana bank using an anti-tank gun to blow through the vault walls. To collect information and funds to pull the caper off, they all move in together and work odd jobs—including Lewis hilariously as an ice cream man. Thunderbolt and Lightfoot has a definite streak of eccentric comedy running through it. The funny bits sometimes come in big moments like when the pair is picked up by a crazed driver with a raccoon riding shotgun and a trunk filled with rabbits.  There are also nicely understated details like Lightfoot’s ice cream slowly melting in his hand while being made to freeze at gunpoint. 

Despite the comedy the overall feel of the film is bittersweet. This melancholy lends Thunderbolt and Lightfoot more of a meditative quality and particularly colors the film’s finale . The main performances are excellent (Bridges earned an Academy Award nomination for his) and the supporting cast is filled with character actors and notable 70s screen presences—Catherine Bach, Gary Busey, Jack Dodson, Burton Gilliam, and Dub Taylor—just to name a few. There are several Eastwood regulars in the cast and crew, including Dee Barton who contributes a fantastic score. Paul Williams’ original song for the picture—“Where Do I Go from Here”—conveys a wandering sadness that’s a perfect accompaniment to the film.

Thunderbolt and Lightfoot is not a perfect picture. It’s a little loose and some of the gags have not aged very well. However, the shagginess is part of the appeal and there’s a certain warmth and subtlety in the film’s best moments. I think heist fans will appreciate the film but it’s especially easy to recommend to New Hollywood fans and/or Eastwood fans. 

Thunderbolt and Lightfoot has popped up on streaming services from time to time and was available on Blu-Ray from Twilight Time. That edition has sold out but Kino Lorber has announced a new 4k remastered Blu-Ray version to be released later this year. I’m not sure what the features will be, but I’ll definitely be grabbing a copy of my own.