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over 2 years ago

Detour

a review by CinemaSerf

I think that in order to get anything from this film noir, you have to accept from the outset that the acting is pretty poor. An implausibly weak Tom Neal, a downright irritating Ann Savage & an especially wooden Claudia Drake make this something you might win a perseverance award for, for sticking with. Tom Neal is driving across the USA when he makes a decision he soon regrets - picking up a rude, gobby woman (Ann Savage) on the highway who proceeds to rob, bully & blackmail him. Accidentally, she comes a cropper and (aside from a general feeling of thank the Lord from the audience) his relief is palpable. The route to his predicament is relayed via his somewhat pathetic retrospective narrative and her relentless onslaughts and they both combine to really grate after a while (say 20 minutes). It has little to redeem it, I'm afraid - neither the photography nor the script inject much pace and/or menace - it's just a tiresome tirade.