Watch Brannigan For Free

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Just what I expected

best movie i've ever seen.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Tough Chicago cop Brannigan (John Wayne) goes to London to extradite an American criminal named Larkin (John Vernon) but the bad guy is seemingly kidnapped before Brannigan can get to him. That's not enough to deter our hero, though. He's determined to get his man, no matter how many British toes he has to step on to do so, including those of a stuffy police commander (Richard Attenborough).A fun 'fish out of water' movie for John Wayne; his second attempt to duplicate Clint Eastwood's success at moving from westerns to police thrillers. It's a better movie than Wayne's previous attempt at a Dirty Harry-style cop flick the year before, the underwhelming McQ. It moves quicker and there are some funny lines here and there. Plus everyone in the cast seems like they want to make this work, unlike McQ where nobody seemed that into it. Duke is clearly having a good time and appears more at ease with this mostly British cast than he did with many of his later films. Vets Attenborough, Vernon, and Mel Ferrer deliver as they usually do. Judy Geeson has a nice chemistry with Duke. Thankfully (given their age difference) the film never goes "there" beyond mild flirting. Lesley Anne Down plays a prostitute and Daniel Pilon is the hit man hired to kill Duke. It's not an exceptional film in any way but it is enjoyable, especially for Wayne fans who might like to see him in different surroundings than the western plateau or the battlefield.

Several years prior to this movie, John Wayne turned down the tough cop movie "Dirty Harry", which turned out to be a big hit. He must have regretted that decision, because several years later he put aside his cowboy hat and starred in two tough cop movies, "McQ" and this movie. Neither movie was a big success with critics or at the box office. I don't remember "McQ" that much, so I'll stick with critiquing "Brannigan" Certainly, the premise of the movie - tough American cop Wayne in jolly old England - did have great possibilities. Indeed, the finished movie does have some genuinely amusing moments, and Wayne still had the stuff (though not as much as in past movies due to his advancing age and his expanding waistline). However, the central story is kind of a bore. The kidnapping plot is pretty thin, resulting in near- desperateness by the screenwriters to pad things out to an acceptable running time. Also, there is not much in the way of action. Indeed, Wayne's character is less of a take-charge kind of guy than other Wayne roles in other movies. Fans of the Duke will probably enjoy this movie all the same despite its shortcomings, though I think even they will admit that this is far from Wayne's greatest movies.

He's still big,of course,but don't let that obscure the signs of vulnerability.The way he walks to avoid the sudden jarring,the collar of his jacket folding up,the moments of reflection,the slow pacing of his part in the bar fight,his avuncular attitude towards D.S.Thatcher and the fact that he doesn't actually seem to give a damn about whether what he does meets with the approval of his superiors or not because,in the end,what can they do to him that time has not already done? All that and his (or the studio's) stubborn insistence that he persists with that silly wig add up to a portrait of a man who knows he is not what he once was and is only too aware of what he will soon become. It was brave of him to take on the role of Jim Brannigan,an old man in a young man's world.Apart from Lord Attenborough in an annoyingly silly part as a titled senior Met Officer(not many of them to the pound) he is considerably older than the British cops and villains he mixes it with. Attenborough's office at "Scotland Yard" is in fact anywhere but,with views across the river to St Paul's.Presumably the real Yard with its views of Westminster Underground station was not "London" enough. But we do get The Mall,Buckingham Palace,Piccadilly Circus etc,all shot in J.Arthur Rank "Look at Life" colour. The storyline isn't important,it's just the fish - out - of - water thing every moviegoer is familiar with and "Brannigan" is competently enough directed,rather like an episode of "The Sweeney" with a big budget and extra Granadas. The car chase through south London streets and across the half - open Tower Bridge is quite exciting and the way Mr Wayne gets out of his wrecked Capri,clambers out of the builders' skip and dusts himself off ruefully down put me in mind of Buster Keaton. Classic car lovers may find the scene where an E.type f.h.c. gets incinerated too much to bear. By 21st century standards "Brannigan" is a rather gentle reflective portrait of an ageing man succeeding - perhaps for the final time - in defying the inevitable.Mr Wayne is comfortable in that role,and I admire him even more for accepting it.

The movie does really try hard to walk a really thin line. It tries to be a an action movie, a comedy, a thriller, a cop movie. And it also tried to establish "Branningan" as a brand name. Like Callahan, but softer and "funnier".Well I can tell you that it doesn't work. I really tried to love the movie, but it's not possible. The effort is there and John Wayne tries, but he is never really as smooth as the character should be. Still the movie can be fun, although not as much as it would like to. While other movies did create cool characters without effort, this is just a decent try, to do the same, without the same result. Nice movie, but nothing that you need to buy (unless you're a huge John Wayne fan).