Malone Reviews

Burt Reynolds turns in his best performance since SHARKEY'S MACHINE in this updated version of the classic western SHANE. A CIA assassin who has grown tired of the business, Richard Malone (Reynolds) drives off in his beloved 1969 Mustang. In Oregon he is forced to stop for car repairs at a tiny gas station owned by Paul Barlow (Scott Wilson) and his pert teenage daughter, Jo (Cynthia Gibb). Barlow and Malone hit it off, and the ex-CIA agent agrees to bunk in Barlow's spare room for the three days it will take to repair the car. During his stay, Malone learns that a rich and powerful industrialist, Charles Delaney (Cliff Robertson), has bought up most of the town and is trying to push everyone out. Delaney is actually the leader of a fanatical right-wing group that plans to set up military strongholds throughout the country in preparation for their "patriotic" revolution. Although the film disintegrates into the typical gunplay and pyrotechnics display commonly found in movies of this ilk, the first half of MALONE is restrained, quiet, and beautifully acted by Reynolds, Gibb, and Wilson. After the best 40 minutes of acting Reynolds has displayed in years, what follows is an unfortunate disappointment.