Rent Convoy (1978)

Action Comedy Based on A Song! - Convoy review by GI

Director Sam Peckinpah's penultimate film fits somewhat into the genre of southern road movie action comedies that Burt Reynolds did so well. As this film stands it's a mishmash that never really comes together in that there's an attempt at comedy but the main thrust of the film seems to be a contemporary western pitting rebel truckers against corrupt lawmen. The difficulty here, as with other Peckinpah films, is unravelling what were his intentions and what ended up on screen after studio interference. History tells us that Peckinpah was not at his best by this time, an alcoholic and addicted to drugs, making him unpredictable and inconsistent. There is reputedly a Peckinpah cut of this film that may still exist and has been cited as far better than the film we have today. Perhaps one day it may emerge in similar ways to some of his other films that suffered under studio editing. As Convoy stands Burt Reynolds (who was offered this apparently) would have been a better casting than Kris Kristofferson as he had the comedic charisma to carry it off. Equally if Peckinpah intended a more dramatic action film than Steve McQueen (also rumoured to have been offered it) would have been a better fit. What is now available is a film that struggles to fit enough in to a feature length movie making it, at times, a bit of a chore to watch. There are snippets of Peckinpah's style and genius if you look close enough but overall this is a weak entry in his canon. Based on a 1976 novelty song by C.W. McCall made during the height of the CB radio craze, although the song has little story to it, this is a tale of a trucker who falls foul of a corrupt sheriff (Ernest Borgnine) and has to flee. He finds that truckers from all over join him on the road as the police try to stop them. Peckinpah employs his trademark slow motion for many of the crash set pieces and a big bar fight. There's a weak romance thrown in with Ali McGraw as the love interest although her role is so minimal as to be pointless. Fans of Peckinpah will spot a variety of his usual actors and James Coburn is one of the assistant directors. The film has recently been restored to 4K UHD and it's worth checking out but fans of Peckinpah will note this is way below his best work.