The Mechanic

1972 action movie

Rating: 12/20

Plot: An assassin makes a new friend.

Here's a brief list of things I would like to hear Charles Bronson say:

"If you have to go potty, then go potty."
"Well, it looks like somebody ate the last popsicle."
"The smeller's the feller, my friend. The smeller's the feller."
"Stop flashing that puppet at me, or I will cry."
"Don't go home with your hard-on; it will only drive you insane." (Leonard Cohen)
"Those Koopa Troopas don't want me walking in the room in my Goomba Shoe."

I liked the first chunk of movie because I like extended scenes where characters are working. I don't believe there's any spoken words at all for the first quarter of an hour which is sort of a risky move. But it's one that works because you really get to the heart of this character. The less Bronson's character talks, the more effective the character is created, even as the mystery of the character deepens.

There's not really enough story for this character, and I'm not really sure much about the last third of the narrative makes sense. I spent most of the movie wishing that I could have another story featuring Bronson's Arthur Bishop. The twists don't quite work, and there's just not quite enough style to make this stand out from similar films from the gritty 70s.