Hot Movie: THE MECHANIC

"The Mechanic," which opened yesterday at the Victoria and other theaters, is about Arthur Bishop (Charles Bronson), a cool professional killer who lives in lonely splendor in the Hollywood hills, with a pool in his living room and an ache in his heart. Although Arthur is a genius at planning the accidental deaths of others (including an old associate, on whom a contract has been let), and although he spends a lot of time keeping fit (jogging, handball, karate, flying a plane), something is awfully wrong in Arthur's life.
He suffers such fits of acute anxiety that he sometimes faints, and he can make it with his call-girl friend only when she creates elaborate fantasies about his sex appeal. Arthur even looks funny: he has the face and physique of a man of 50 who takes immense care of himself, but his hair is of a blackness and a consistency that suggest that Arthur—for the sake of vanity—dunks it in pitch.
There are indications in Lewis John Carlino's screenplay that this effect is intentional, that "The Mechanic" is meant to be something more than the solemn, rather spurious action melodrama that Michael Winner, the director, has made of it.
The center of the film is the relationship between Arthur and the rich young punk Steve (Jan-Michael Vincent), whom Arthur takes on as his apprentice—with not too surprising results. However, while Carlino's screenplay suggests a fatal fatherson rivalry between the pair, and sort of hints at a latent homosexual bond, the film that Winner has directed is one of non-stop, mostly irrelevant physical spectacle, of complicated chases (in automobiles, on motorcycles), of shootouts, and of various explosions (buildings, cars, yachts). It's quite possible the same movie could have been put together by the special effects men and the stunt coordinators.
Because Winner, an Englishman whose first Hollywood-based film this is, is the sort of director who can never resist a flashy effect, no matter what it does to the point of the film, I found myself even mistrusting the décor in "The Mechanic."
Is that over-designed, over-decorated house of Arthur's really meant to be as failed-Playboy as it seems, or is it supposed to be chic? For that matter, is Arthur supposed to look grotesque, like an aging Hollywood agent, in his fancy bell-bottoms and leather jackets, or is this a mark of his hipness?
I couldn't tell from the film, though I suspect that another, tougher director might have made something quite interesting of the same script.

The Cast
THE MECHANIC, directed by Michael Winner; screenplay by Lewis John Carlino; music, Jerry Fielding; supervising editor, Freddie Wilson; director of photography, Richard Kline (U.S.) and Robert Paynter (Italy); produced by Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff; distributed by United Artists. Running time: 100 minutes. At the Victoria Theater, Broadway at 46th Street, and other theaters. This film has been classified PG.
Arthur Bishop . . . . . Charles Bronson
Steve McKenna . . . . . Jan-Michael Vincent
McKenna . . . . . Keenan Wynn
Girl . . . . . Jill Ireland
Louise . . . . . Linda Ridgeway
Man . . . . . Frank De Kova

see the trailer here:
The Mechanic-Trailer