The Reivers (1969)

Academy Awards, USA 1970

Nominee Oscar	Best Actor in a Supporting Role Rupert Crosse
	Best Music, Original Score for a Motion Picture (not a Musical) John Williams

National General Pictures
Directed by Mark Rydell
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, Kino Lorber)

A shiny new car arrives in a small turn-of-the-century Mississippi town and is coveted by almost everyone, including a couple of out-of-work buffoons who eventually steal it (Steve McQueen and Rupert Crosse). They are let off by the owner if they agree to stay away from it, but that doesn't last long. McQueen "borrows" it for a weekend trip to Memphis, taking along his young teenage friend and the other thief as a stowaway. After the long drive to Memphis, they stay at an upscale bordello where McQueen reconnects with an old "friend" while the young teenage boy learns just exactly what happens at a bordello. Meanwhile, the other thief trades the car for a horse, believing they will win it back in a horse race. The teenage boy is talked into being a jockey, learning more life lessons along the way. McQueen is miscast in this failed adaptation of a William Faulkner story. Instead of focusing on the coming-of-age story of the teenage boy, it spends most of its time trying to be a slapstick comedy, and McQueen is not a comedian. Good period feel and John Williams soundtrack do little to make up for the deficiencies.