By Jay Betsill
“Malone” stars Burt Reynolds in the title role of a former C.I.A. hitman who suddenly resigns and goes off the grid in an attempt to leave his past behind.
Malone is driving aimlessly before his Ford Mustang breaks down in a rural Oregon valley and he pushes it to a gas station and garage owned by Paul Barlow (Scott Wilson), who runs the station with his 17-year-old daughter Jo (Cynthia Gibb).
Since it is 60 miles to a larger service station, Malone opts to wait for the necessary parts to arrive and after becoming friends with Paul as they bond over their respective military service in the Vietnam War, he is invited to stay in the spare room at the Barlow’s home.
Malone helps Paul with his repair work and sizes up the small town, which is under the control of Charles Delaney (Cliff Robertson), who buys up all the property he can and forces people to sell if they first refuse. While he portrays himself as a respectable and affluent businessman, Delaney is in fact behind a group of terrorist cells throughout the country, turning the property he buys into havens for his cause as he continues to expand across the United States.
Delaney uses his contacts in New York to dig up information on Malone and once he learns Malone’s identity, he fears that the town’s newest resident known simply as “the guy with car trouble” has been sent here to kill him.
A series of events leads to Malone having to stand up for the people in the small town and take on Delaney and his band of mercenaries and when Malone ends up in the hospital after one of the shootouts, he is visited by a former C.I.A. colleague (Lauren Hutton).
“Malone” is exactly what you would think it is after watching the trailer and it delivers on the action and a stoic performance from Reynolds, who sheds the good ol’ boy routine from “Smokey and the Bandit” and “Cannonball Run.”
“Malone” is eerily similar to the classic “Road House” starring Patrick Swayze and Sam Elliott that was released two years after this movie and while it is not as much fun, it would be easy to see Malone and Dalton getting along well as they share the common thread of taking on evil rich men and their band of hired guns.
“Malone” is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.
MALONE (Rated R)
Scale of 1-10 – 7
