Wednesday 24 July 2019

Hobo with a Shotgun (4 Stars)


This afternoon I heard about Rutger Hauer's death, so I immediately looked through my film collection to see what film I could watch in his honour. He's made over a hundred films in the last 50 years, but I only have three films in which he appears, and this is the only film in which he plays the leading role.

The film originally consisted of a fake trailer that was made to be shown between the two films in the Tarantino-Rodriguez grindhouse double bill. The trailer was so popular with cinema audiences that there was a demand for a film to be made, and this is it.

The film tells the story of a nameless homeless man who arrives in a big city. He's horrified by the crime and violence that he sees on the streets, but he doesn't want to get involved. All he wants to do is save $49.99 so that he can buy a lawn mower. When he has a lawn mower he can mow people's lawns for money, which will make him rich. That's a good plan, but when he goes to the shop to buy the lawn mower he witnesses a robbery. He pulls a shotgun off the shelf and shoots the robbers. The gun also costs $49.99, so he buys it instead.

The hobo becomes a vigilante, killing criminals wherever he sees them. He does the job that the police refuse to do, because they're on the payroll of the city's crime lord, Drake.

The characters in the film are all larger than life, and the acting is exaggerated. In a way, it reminds me of the 1989 version of "Batman", except that it's less glamorous.

The film is good fun, as long as you don't take it too seriously. Rutger Hauer himself plays the main role excellently, as a quiet man who can explode into madness when he feels the need to do what's right.

Success Rate:  - 3.6

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Rutger Hauer
23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019

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