Clint Eastwood’s only directorial effort in the Dirty Harry franchise is morally questionable and gloriously over-the-top. That’s a compliment, not a criticism. Sudden Impact sees Harry once again dealing with the usual bureaucratic complaints towards his unique brand of law enforcement, while also hunting a vigilante killer whose modus operandi involves shooting men in the groin.
For as well as being a Dirty Harry movie Sudden Impact is an entry into the female revenge sub-genre which began in the 70’s and reached its high point with Abel Ferrara’s Ms 45 (1981). Sudden Impact is as much about Jennifer (Sondra Locke), a rape victim hunting down the men who attacked her and left her sister in a catatonic state, as it is about Harry Callahan.
The film begins with Jennifer (Locke) claiming her first victim, a crime later described by a cop as being a “38-calibre vasectomy.” Harry is busy with his usual routine, having cases thrown out of court because the judge objected to him ignoring due process, or arguing with his superiors, threatening punks, and having his coffee breaks interrupted by armed robbers.
After Harry gatecrashes a wedding and induces a heart attack in an ageing mobster he is put on vacation for his own safety. While holidaying Harry kills six people, though to be fair they were trying to kill him and they were assholes anyway. Harry is given the 38-calibre vasectomy case and sent to the dead man’s hometown to find out more about the victim.
Harry is naturally upset at being given such a soft assignment, but he soon cheers up when he arrives in town during a bank robbery and hijacks a mini-bus filled with pensioners so he can run the perp off the road. Jennifer has also arrived back in town, intent on killing the rest of her assailants. When two more men get the 38-calibre vasectomy treatment Harry realises he is not the only sympathetic killer of scumbags to have travelled down from San Francisco.
Don Siegel’s original Dirty Harry (Don Siegel 1971) is far more ambiguous than its reputation suggests. Sudden Impact has no such doubts about Harry’s methods. It is the point where the more absurd elements of the franchise take over. Some of screenwriter Joseph C Stinson’s dialogue wouldn’t look out of place in an episode of Sledge Hammer, the cult TV sitcom making fun of cop shows and Dirty Harry in particular.
Composer Lalo Schifrin is back onboard after skipping the previous sequels Magnum Force (Ted Post (1973) and The Enforcer (James Fargo 1976). Schifrin’s soundtrack pays homage to the dark romanticism of the score for another cop movie set in San Francisco, Bernard Hermann’s music for Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock 1958). Schifrin also give Locke a troubling theme as if she was the femme fatale in a film noir.
Eastwood’s direction lacks the subtlety of Siegel, though his use of wide-angled close-ups and framing of certain scenes as if they belonged in a Western owes more than a little to his other mentor Sergio Leone. Eastwood won acclaim for directing The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) and these days has a fistful of Oscars to back up his talent. Sudden Impact is easily the trashiest film he has ever made. That’s a recommendation.
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