The Mechanic

Mechanic (Original)

The works of one Charles Bronson are so extensive that it’s amazing to realize that he famously was considered to be a “late bloomer” in Hollywood, not having achieved his stardom until his late forties and essentially being in his prime (the 1970s) while he himself was in his fifties. This 1972 potboiler is certainly one of his most recognizable titles despite some story problems that came from it being a completely different script than what it was originally when it came to both content and tone. The whole point of it as it was first written was that the mentor assassin and his young apprentice that he was teaching the trade to were actually also gay lovers and when they got their orders to take each other out, the only thing that was holding both men back was their own romantic attachment to each other. Naturally, nobody was really going to make a movie about that in the early 1970s (much to the chagrin of the screenwriter) and so major aspects of the story were overhauled so that the older assassin’s (Bronson) motive for taking on the younger man was because he figured that he was better off having somebody to back him up and perhaps also because he was considering retirement himself. In the role of Bronson’s protégé, they cast Jan-Michael Vincent, a guy who is and continues to be at or near the top of the list of every “what if” scenario in Hollywood history, a guy who appeared to be gliding towards the A List with little to no effort until he was brought down by his alcoholism, a condition that grew to be so bad that by the time he was starring in the 80s TV action series Airwolf, it was said to be standard procedure to have a production assistant always be standing behind him just off camera at all times during filming solely for the purpose of catching him in case he keeled over in the middle of shooting a scene from being so drunk onset all of the time (and it was said that as soon as the director yelled “cut”, he always did just that). But in 1972, he was young and in his prime, able to pass for a movie star and charismatic enough to have the presence to share the screen with the likes of Bronson. The film portrays Bronson’s assassin as not really being your standard shoot em dead type but rather the type who finds his target’s particular weakness (including having access to medical records) and uses that to his advantage to cause “convenient accidents” that look like anything but an actual hit. What’s very interesting is that it’s never made quite clear for whom exactly Bronson is working for, whether it be organized crime, the government / CIA or perhaps some kind of shadowy, Illuminati type group. We only have one scene of Bronson meeting with one of the bosses and the group is only ever referred to in the dialogue as “The Organization”. What is made clear is that most of the targets seem to be high level criminals even as we’re not told what exactly it is that they did wrong that warranted the elaborate process of having a so called mechanic contract taken out on them so that Bronson can handily dispose of them. One day he gets a assignment like few others: he is to take out someone who is a long time personal friend of his (Keenan Wynn) not to mention a friend of his late father (who apparently was a very high ranking Organization member). Bronson reluctantly carries out the hit on Wynn (via heart attack) only to become more acquainted with his son (Vincent) at the funeral afterwards. He seems to be an unusual young man, openly dismissing his father as being a criminal who probably got what he deserved and yet still expressing a rabid curiosity to Bronson about the business that they were involved in. Bronson accompanies Vincent back to his late father’s house only to find that a raucous inheritance celebration party is already underway with scores of Vincent’s friends his own age ransacking the place as Vincent confesses to Bronson that he doesn’t even like these people and that the party is just his way of dancing on his dad’s grave. But the greatest insight is provided when Vincent gets a call from a girlfriend (Linda Ridgeway, whose greatest accomplishment besides this movie was being one of Bill Cosby’s accusers many years later and having Gloria Allred as her attorney) and he asks Bronson to come along with him to her place as she is claiming to be suicidal and even slits one of her wrists in a pathetic cry for attention. But the interesting thing is that as Bronson looks on, Vincent maintains a totally nonchalant attitude towards the girl, making himself a sandwich and casually watching TV as she slowly bleeds to death (as she keeps insisting that he will save her). Afterwards, Vincent explains himself to Bronson by saying that if she doesn’t care about her own life, then why should he? He then makes a full court press about wanting to learn about Bronson’s business and Bronson finally agrees, teaching the younger man about the tricks of his trade. This is certainly one of those films where the first half that develops the story and characters is much better paced and more interesting than the second half (except for the requisite cameo / supporting role for Bronson’s wife Jill Ireland as a prostitute whom his character pays a visit to that feels like it was tacked in there just to get her into the movie) where Bronson takes Vincent on their first shared assignment (which features a ridiculously extended dirtbike race featuring Bronson’s stunt double) and then Bronson learns that there is now a BIG problem with The Organization over him having taken Vincent under his wing. Apparently Bronson was required to get permission to do such a thing which is dumb because someone with his experience would have known to do just that and also the fact that Vincent’s father having been killed by their group means that they are not quite ready to accept his son as being a potential employee of theirs which is also something that Bronson should have known and been aware of. Nonetheless, they toss him another assignment and tell him that they want it “cowboyed” (translation: carried out quickly) on the idea that this will smooth over any transgressions that he has committed. The catch is that the hit will have to be done in Naples, Italy and as is the case with any sudden, exotic change in locale to set up the climax, the film slows down considerably once the two main characters arrive there, dragging everything out with only the possibility of some kind of twist setup to hold the viewer’s interest. Fortunately, the film does end with an extremely effective gutpunch final shot, but the overall flaws on display here do hurt things quite a bit. On the plus side is the writing for Vincent’s character, with him appearing to be rather shallow and callous at first but actually being quite perceptive and insightful in his own right with Vincent himself bringing just the right blend of cockiness and charisma to the performance making it quite easy to see why he could have been something very special as an actor if he had just stayed off the booze. What interests him in Bronson’s business is Bronson’s philosophy that you don’t do it for the money nor out of loyalty to The Organization, but rather so you can wake up everyday and be able to tell yourself that you’re different than everyone else or “standing outside” as he calls it. The idea that you’re living in your own private world where nobody can tell you what to do or how to do it or when just as long as you fulfill your necessary obligations to maintain that kind of lifestyle which presumably doesn’t fill your every waking minute 24/7 unless you get that package delivered to you with your next target’s profile. Even as Bronson’s character seems to be suffering from unspecified medical issues that seem to have been brought on from having done the job for far too long and Vincent might be considered by him to be fresh enough to start taking on the assignments full time, the story still makes the supposed transfer of power its real dramatic thrust instead of the handful of distractions that the script tries to throw at us (none of the actual targets or what they really do for a living or even the reason why they are being targeted are of any real consequence to the main idea) and there can be no doubt that if the alleged “gay angle” had been actively pursued that this would have been an unwatched disaster of the highest order (reportedly a couple of other A listers adamantly refused to be involved when it was still at that stage), but as it is this is an okay but at times underwhelming effort whose greatest asset remains Charles Bronson himself…

7/10

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