Mr. Majestyk (1974)

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

"The greatest actor I ever worked with", said the great Sergio Leone. He worked quickly and efficiently. Acted so natural it didn't look like acting. Bronson is wonderful in this very fine movie, although some of the snide reviewers here don't seem to agree. Inexplicably rated at only 6.8 on this site. Ridiculous. Formulaic and predictable ? An opinion that beggars belief. Superb script by Elmore Leonard, a professional, keeps you guessing. I saw nothing predictable about the way the action unrolls. I had no idea what Majestyk would think up next. Entertaining, suspenseful, humorous, in fact deadpan witty. When times are hard, everyone gets Bronson on their side. Even the weasel. He's simply the nemesis that Drexl Spivey had in mind. Bronson is REAL; and Al Lettieri is a terrific bad guy, especially in his handling of the weasel. Their relationship was hilarious.

Charles Bronson is Vince Majestyk, a dedicated melon farmer and Vietnam vet with one prior on his record, who is hauled into jail for assault with a rifle after a gang of small-time hoods attempt to force him to use their amateur laborers for pickers instead of the migrant workers he usually hires. Being transferred in a prisoner's van alongside a hit-man for the mob, Majestyk takes charge in a volatile situation and tries cutting a deal with the cops: the hit-man in exchange for his release. When the plan goes awry, Majestyk is eventually freed and goes back to work--but now he's got angry mobsters on his tail. Muddled plot by screenwriter Elmore Leonard (!) is strictly emotion-based; there's no logic or reasoning behind the actions taken by the hoods (led by a sniveling Paul Koslo) hoping to muscle-in on the melon picking, nor by the incompetent police department, nor by the hired gun (a cartoonishly volatile Al Lettieri) who will not stop until he gets his revenge on Majestyk. Still, Bronson comes through with one of his best genre performances; there was no one else working in '70s action pictures who could stare down a lying, cheating weasel the way Bronson could. All-purpose director Richard Fleischer keeps Bronson in character--he also stages some fast, tough action sequences--but the rest of this show belongs strictly to the star. **1/2 from ****

Mr. Majestyk (1974) *** (out of 4) Melon farmer Vince Majestyk (Charles Bronson) has a wise guy trying to force his workers onto his land, which lands the farmer in jail on assault. While in jail, hit man Frank Renda (Al Lettieri) tries an escape but the farmer puts an end to his plans. Soon the hit man eventually breaks away from Majestyk but he has sworn vengeance on the farmer and comes after his crops and him.MR. MAJESTYK is one of Bronson's better pictures from this period even though there's no question that it runs a tad bit too long and has a rather long-winded plot. With that said, if you're a fan of Bronson then the Majestyk character is certainly one of the most memorable of his career and it allows the actor to show off his tough side but it also gives him a couple very funny bits.The biggest factor that makes this film work is of course the cast. Bronson is tough-as-iron as you'd expect and this role really fits him well. The farmer is obviously your everyday type of person and Bronson fits this perfectly. He just looks, sounds and walks like a melon farmer. As I said, there's action throughout, which the actor handles without a problem but he's also given a chance to play a real character and deliver a real performance. For those who say Bronson was just a figure and not an actor, show them this. Lettieri was making a great career playing worthless scumbag and he's wonderful here as well. Linda Cristal and Lee Purcell are both good in their roles Paul Koslo is so slimy as the worthless wannabe tough guy.The film contains a great number of action scenes that are all perfectly directed by Richard Fleischer. Some of the memorable moments include the terrific car chase at the end and there's another very good sequence where Bronson has some fun beating the tar out of the hit man. The film also benefits from some great visuals and a very good music score. MR. MAJESTYK is everything you'd expect from a 70s action film.

Charlie Bronson's a melon farmer who just wants to get his melons in on time, but fate conspires against him. First of all when he arrives at his melon fields with a crew of migrant labour, he finds that a wannabe tough guy has already set a crew of drunks and vagrants to work. Of course, Charlie soon sees him off with his tail between his legs. The pipsqueak reports him to the police, and because there's a gun involved and Charlie has a history, he finds himself locked up with only his anxiety over his melons going mouldy to keep him company.Actually, that's not quite true because while in the cells he comes across the wonderful Al Lettieri as a ruthless hit man. The bus they're in is ambushed by some of Al's men but Charlie turns the situation to his advantage by kidnapping Al and trading him with the police in return for his own freedom.This is a typical seventies crime thriller that lacks any credible storyline and falls back on the kind of violence typical of both the era and Charles Bronson movies in general. It's also a typical example, I suppose, of why Elmore Leonard never really enjoyed the success as a screenwriter as he did as a writer of novels, even though his novels were 80% dialogue for some reason he never seemed able to translate the natural sound of his written dialogue to the screen. Anyway, the violence is quite brutal – and often gratuitous. At one point bad guy Lettieri and his cronies drive into a portable toilet into which one luckless deputy has just entered. Lettieri prevents his comrade from shooting the dazed cop to death, and picks up a plank instead, which he uses to efficiently batter the poor soul to death. 'Make them think he was run over by a truck,' he explains. We don't actually see the act, just Lettieri's face as he dispassionately goes about his work, and for this reason it is probably the most effective moment of the film.Speaking of Lettieri, he's by far the best thing about this film; it's a shame that he would die within a year or two, cut down by a heart attack at the relatively young age of 47. He was just beginning to make a name for himself as a Hollywood heavy, and there's no doubting that, like here, he would have enlivened many an otherwise routine film if he'd had the opportunity. If you like Bronson films you probably won't be disappointed by this one, but it isn't one that most people are likely to remember.