On M List of Movie Reviews
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Macon County Line (1974)
Rate:
8
Viewed:
6/15, 3/17
6/15:
Macon County Line is a brilliant piece of work that's in the same vein of Easy Rider and
The Town That Dreaded Sundown.
All the credit goes to Max Baer, Jr., who wrote, produced, and starred in the film. His performance as a small-town police
officer in Georgia is something else. My favorite part is when he had a polite conversation with his son about mingling with
his black peers. Another one, which is equally disquieting, is when he casually bought a big shotgun and walked around with it,
all for his ten-year-old boy.
Macon County Line is the kind of picture that takes its time with the atmospheric setting and mood, and once the
climax is reached, the film explodes in the final twenty minutes that makes it unforgettable. Helped by the characters, the
Southern Gothic style comes alive which works to its advantage. Also, let's not forget to mention the great
performances by the Vint brothers: Alan and Jesse.
What sells the film to the audience is the announcement that it's based on a true story which is followed up with the aftermath
of the characters' fates. However, the whole thing turned out to be fictional, having been a figment of Max Baer, Jr.'s
imagination. The coincidence of three characters' car stopping in front of the police officer's house is too fantastic
to believe.
Regardless, the film was made for $225,000 and went on to rake in over $30 million worldwide, becoming the highest grossing film
in terms of cost-to-profit ratio, a record that stood until it was broken by
The Blair Witch Project. So, good work, Max.
All in all, Macon County Line is a well-directed Southern Gothic thriller.
3/17:
Originally made as a "drive-in" picture, Macon County Line was a surprise winner in 1974, having been shot on a $225,000
budget and eventually grossing over $30 million worldwide, a record that stood until
The Blair Witch Project broke it.
Max Baer, Jr., who's famous as Jethro Bodine in The Beverly Hillbillies, was frustrated by being typecast and
couldn't land a job in Hollywood for several years. Hence, he decided to put up his money by turning his screenplay into a
feature length film. The result is Macon County Line, a Southern Gothic thriller with one of the most explosive
finales ever filmed that's capped by a surprising revelation.
I wanted to view the picture again to see if it still held up. The answer is a resounding yes even though it's a bit
slow to get things going. Great performances are rendered by the cast. The standouts are the Vint brothers, Max Baer, Jr.,
Geoffrey Lewis, and Sam Gilman. Max's portrayal of Deputy Reed Morgan is something else. Sure, he looks Jethro at first, but
when Max puts his dark sunglasses on, he's a completely different character.
All in all, the last twenty minutes of Macon County Line is the clincher for its high replayability value.