CinemaSerf
5/16/2023
I recall seeing this at the cinema at the time, and what a fuss there was. Not about the movie - but about the whole CB radio phenomena and, of course, the C.W. McCall song. Ernest Borgnine turns in quite a good effort as the savvy, but crooked, sheriff "Lyle" who finally pushes trucker "Rubber Duck" (Kris Kristofferson) and a few of his cohorts over the edge. A bar fight and a few heavily bruised cops necessitates them needing to flee to New Mexico and along the way their half dozen trucks start to attract others like magnets - and it's soon easily a mile long and posing an interesting problem for the authorities as the media interest builds. It doesn't do the convoy any harm, either, that the cops think the lead machine is packed full of highly explosive chemicals. Along for the ride is an out-of-sorts Ali McGraw ("Melissa") who really doesn't seem to be enjoying herself at all as this initially quite entertaining story becomes just as uninteresting and processional as the line of lorries itself. There are a few characterful supporting contributions from Madge Sinclair and Burt Young but for the main part, this is a film about a song and the more you hear that refrain the less impactful any of that remains.
