Dennis
Hopper’s Easy Rider (1969) was one of
those generation-defining hits that inspired countless homages, so it’s
tempting to dismiss all of them as faint echoes of the original. Yet doing so
would overlook respectable efforts including The Windsplitter, which borrows iconography and themes from Easy Rider without directly copying that
film. And while in many ways The
Windsplitter is clumsy and obvious compared to Hopper’s picture, it’s not
as if Easy Rider is the most
articulate and refined piece of popular entertainment ever created. In fact, The Windsplitter expresses certain
notions even more effectively than Easy
Rider does. The key difference between the pictures is that the hog-riding
rebels of Hopper’s movie live and breathe the hippie ethos, whereas the main
character of The Windsplitter is
merely mistaken for someone who does that.
Set in
small-town Texas, The Windsplitter
explores what happens when hometown boy Bobby Joe (Jim McMullen) returns after
a 10-year absence. During that time, he’s become a Hollywood movie star using
his proper name, Robert Brandon. Town officials invited Bobby Joe home for a
celebration in his honor, expecting the same clean-cut kid they knew a decade
ago. Instead they get a longhair with a fringe jacket and wraparound shades who
zooms into town atop a powerful motorcycle. Town officials, particularly the
local Reverend (Paul Lambert) are aghast, but local kids embrace Bobby Joe like
he’s an ambassador from a foreign country. Writer-director J.D. Fiegelson, who
later had a middling career in television, takes a meticulous approach to dramatizing conflict. Bobby Joe’s father (Jim Siedow) views
everything about his son’s new lifestyle with contempt, even revealing that he
didn’t see Bobby Joe’s hit movie. Bobby Joe tries to pick up where he left
off with Jenny (Joyce Taylor), but she’s the daughter of the Reverend, who
fears that Bobby Joe’s influence will lead the town’s youth to ruination. Bobby
Joe also reconnects with boyhood friend R.T. (Richard Everett), but the town’s
other blue-collar types offer a much different welcome—threats leading to
real violence. Everything moves steadily toward a public assembly where Bobby
Joe is scheduled to crown the high school’s homecoming queen.
In its broad
strokes, The Windsplitter is
contrived and predictable, pitting a with-it seeker against close-minded dolts.
But in its specifics, the movie reveals depth and sensitivity. The Reverend
isn’t just a fire-and-brimstone hatemonger. Jenny isn’t just a small-town girl
beguiled by the promise of the outside world. R.T. isn’t just a simpleton
grease monkey. And Bobby Joe, who eschews drugs and meaningless sex, doesn’t
match the image formed in the minds of those who judge him. To be clear,
Fiegelson’s storytelling is not sophisticated. Some of his dialogue thuds, and
his most villainous characters are one-dimensional. But because The Windsplitter explores an interesting
culture clash from a thoughtful angle, the movie’s grim finale feels organic
rather than preconceived.
The Windsplitter: GROOVY
From the director of the great tv movie dark night of the scarecrow!
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