Heists and convicts go hand in hand for The Getaway, a lack of reformation after being released back into the wild outdoors steers this Sam Peckinpah piece. Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw mark quite the pairing of this on-the-road escape. It feels routinely like Badlands and Bonnie and Clyde, a sub-genre styling that had found its footing just a few years ago and developed more than a handful of films hoping to piggyback the monumental success. Thankfully, plenty of these features managed that. Pairing two stars of the time, showcasing how ruthless they are, and spinning it from there. The Getaway does that well with the introduction of Doc McCoy, rendering the crimes as moot points in the eyes of the law but a keen satisfaction for McQueen’s character development.
Most impressive of all about The Getaway is its scope. Hundreds of extras lined up in the back of trucks, horseback deputies, large landscapes and everything in between. It all makes for a thoroughly lived-in backdrop and much of that comes from Peckinpah’s sense of style. It helps when the breakout and loyalty of two lead characters are tested, that backdrop gives a good range of exits and outings for this pair. Much of that comes from the contrast presented by Peckinpah, the opening moments of prisoners going about their day is a scattershot of mundane clarity, paired well with that need to escape and to live a little faster. MacGraw, utilised in fleeting shots and contrast with the isolation of a cell, is key to that.
But MacGraw is more than just a representation of a goal, it is also a strong performance from McQueen the edge in those later moments. Even from the earliest moments, it is clear how the brief actions and desperations of a loyally married couple will undo their progress. But that is the risk. Peckinpah hopes to present that risk as fundamentally worth the sacrifice of almost everything. It is not just the evaluation of risk and reward but the concept of returning to the outside world after a stint inside that feeds McQueen’s performance so well. MacGraw, at times, overshadows that of McQueen’s leading performance, a perplexing situation that sees McQueen waste some of the ample time Peckinpah gives him to showcase that desire for normalcy after heading out of prison.
That desire is shown well in the early moments, forgotten about throughout the midpoint and climax and then reincorporated for those final moments where freedom is technically reached. A heist gone wrong, then goes right, and the feeling of complete success surrounds McQueen and MacGraw. There is always a hint of encouraging doubt, in the final escape from that apartment to the moments that precede it and the intensity that comes throughout those moments. Even then, The Getaway is remarkable in making its audience feel for its killer couple, their desire to make good on a promise they gave to themselves, and their series of daring escapes. Peckinpah holds it together quite well for his leads but not at all for those that hunt them down, the gun-loving nutters whose motives are shown clearly, and expressed with little conviction.
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