Forgotten Film Friday: Cutter's Way

A retrospective by Brooks Rich

One night in Santa Barbara Richard Bone (Jeff Bridges) witnesses the murder of a teenager girl while his car is broken down. He immediately becomes a person of interest for the police. His friend Alex Cutter (a career best John Heard) is an alcoholic Vietnam vet who believes in Bone's innocence. He soon becomes obsessed with the case and a man named JJ Cord, who was there on the night of the murder.

1981's Cutter's Way has been relegated to the thrift store of cinema history and it's a damn shape. It's a classic Neo noir and the performance from John Heard should have been praised come award season. He plays the stereotypical drunk to perfection and brings a sadness to the role that makes it stand off. Of course Jeff Bridges is also fantastic because of course he is. He's Jeff Bridges.

This film is a solid little Neo noir. I'm not saying it will set the world on fire but it's worth a watch. Chariots of Fire won Best Picture in 1981 and I prefer this film to that boring meaningless film. Cutter's Way has a great mystery at it's heart and fantastic character work by two actors at the top of their game.

Internal politics at United Artists screwed up the film's release. The marketing was a joke and three negative reviews basically ask any hope the film had. As with a lot of films unfairly maligned at the time it has achieved redemption and some reevaluation. It now has a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes and is a cult hit. It's on Prime right now. Check it out.

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