You can see a few blossoming Mann-erisms in this early TV movie. The stoic, loner hero with nothing left to lose, the use of popular music (in this case, instrumental knock-offs of Rolling Stones tunes). What's lacking is any sense of style. Blame it on the limitations of television productions at the time, but the whole thing feels really flat. The performances are terrible (even Dennehy) and the dialogue is a joke. It all seems so clichéd and silly and strikes the wrong dramatic tones. When you're laughing at a drop-dead serious scene of someone getting shanked, there's a problem. And because the grittiness is watered down by television restrictions, it feels like a community theater version of prison life. And the less said about the tacked-on racial tension subplot, the better. In the lead, Peter Strauss does a pretty good job but even he has some lemon moments (like the outburst in the counselor's office). I don't think Mann's necessarily at fault for the film's failures, there aren't a whole lot of good TV movies from the 70's. Two years later, he'd make THIEF, my favorite by him.
Review of The Jericho Mile
