A taut little adventure
saga/morality tale that takes its inspiration from the notorious real-life hijacking
committed by D.B. Cooper, this excellent telefilm is something of a
Northwestern riff on John Huston’s immortal drama The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948). Like that film, Deliver Us from Evil depicts the
corrosive power of greed and uses a battle against nature as a metaphor
representing the extremes to which men will go once the promise of wealth
overcomes morality and reason.
Set in the beautiful but unforgiving mountains
of Wyoming, Deliver Us from Evil
begins quietly, with five friends hiking through the woods, lead by
professional guide Dixie (Jim Davis). The men are Al (Jack Weston), an
overweight whiner; Arnold (Charles Aidman), a quiet blue-collar worker in late
middle age; Steven (Bradford Dillman), a twitchy CPA; Nick (Jan-Michael
Vincent), Arnold’s twentysomething son, reeling from a recent divorce; and
Walter (George Kennedy), a macho blowhard who fancies himself an outdoorsman
and wears a pistol on his belt. While setting up camp one afternoon,
Walter spots a parachutist dropping behind a treeline not far from the group’s location.
Soon afterward, the men hear a radio broadcast indicating that a D.B.
Cooper-like skyjacker escaped by parachute in the same part of Wyoming where
the men are camping. Walter persuades the others to join him in chasing the alleged criminal. Once they find their quarry, a trigger-happy Walter kills the
parachutist.
After a stomach-churning interlude during which the men fear that
Walter killed an innocent man, they discover the hijacker’s stolen loot—$600,000
in cash. At first, the group reacts to the discovery with good citizenship, securing
the money for a hike back to civilization so they can return the cash to its
rightful owners. Yet it’s not long before the lust for wealth invades the
hearts of even the noblest members of this crew, so, as the men make their way
across cliffs, mountains, and finally a glacier, they turn on each other.
The incisive script by Jack B. Sowards sketches each
character distinctly and then generates believable conflicts through a steady
process of escalation. For instance, immediately after the shooting of the
hijacker, highly principled Dixie pushes the men to travel as fast as they can,
since he knows it’s only a matter of time before someone hatches the idea to
keep the cash. Similarly, the dynamic between kindhearted Arnold and his
tormented son shifts from nurturing to tragic in a way that makes perfect
sense. The script also captures a highly credible sense of the bone-deep
weariness that comes from punching a clock year after a year—rather than
seeming like opportunistic crooks, these characters seem like average joes who lose
their minds after winning the lottery. Powered by crisp dialogue, panoramic
images of wide-open scenery, and strong performances from an eclectic cast, Deliver Us from Evil unfolds like a
harrowing fable.
Deliver Us from Evil: GROOVY
Sounds like a hybrid of Deliverance and A Simple Plan.
ReplyDeleteExactly.
ReplyDeleteI have a vague recollection of having seen this movie, some 20 odd years ago, on TV here in the UK. A good cast in a solid little story.
ReplyDeleteThanks to this review I shall have to add it to the 'seek and enjoy' list. In fact, thanks to this site, that list is now long enough to be classed an endeavour!
Saw it as the ABC Movie of the week. Loved it then and still admire it . Love the parallel to A Simple Plan 1998 excellent neo noir .
ReplyDelete