The nice thing about "Rolling Thunder" (besides that bitchin' title) is that it's a fairly unconventional revenge flick. Not the obvious kind, but the sort that really gets under your skin; where the thirst for justive plays out in a '70s returning POW melodrama. William Devane ably personifies that displaced brooding (Tommy Lee Jones even more so), moving through his shattered home life with detached stoicism. And once the robbers move in on him, take his hand and his family, is he frothing at the mouth and swearing vengeance toward the heavens? Nooo, he's far too (seemingly) docile, a tightly-coiled rage festering within. Payback will happen in due time, and that's a feeling of dread unto itself.
This thing burns slow, discomfiting to say the least. Not just a b-movie actioner, but a pointed examination of the effects of war, torture and reintegration into society. Notable also for James Best as a thug ring-leader, but even more for the unbelievably tense garbage disposal scene (which I'm sure is the scene most people remember from this movie).
7/10
This thing burns slow, discomfiting to say the least. Not just a b-movie actioner, but a pointed examination of the effects of war, torture and reintegration into society. Notable also for James Best as a thug ring-leader, but even more for the unbelievably tense garbage disposal scene (which I'm sure is the scene most people remember from this movie).
7/10