The best parts of the script of this late 70s action-thriller are the car chases when nobody speaks, and when the script designates what Los Angeles Street the car driven by Ryan O'Neal will be speeding down, and when the cop cars turn over or crash. It's obvious that this film was written and directed for people who enjoy watching the cops lose, and lose they d9 mightily as professional speed driver O'Neal operates the escape vehicle that gets criminals away from the scene of the crime. Not only do cop cars crash or turn over, parts of the vehicles fly off of all of the cars driving, and all O'Neill has to do is operate the machinery in an automobile demolition lot to get rid of the evidence.

Some decent actors really don't get a chance to do much acting, although Bruce Dern (nominated for an Oscar that year for "Coming Home") does get the most opportunity. Isabelle Adjani, nominated for an Oscar just a few years before, is merely window-dressing as the player, credited as such as the majority of the characters do not have names, just descriptions. The film itself is certainly watchable but not really all that memorable outside of the chase sequences, rather violent and outside of Dern as the detective not at all character driven. The streets of downtown Los Angeles get a lot of wear and tear as these prop cop cars and the escape vehicles aggressively fly over them obviously in the middle of a pre-dawn Sunday. Fun for a while, but after a bit it gets completely tedious.

Walter Hill's second directorial effort after his terrific debut feature "Hard Times" may very well be one of his best films ever, a tense, steely, tersely plotted and resolutely tough-minded crime thriller done in vintage gritty, amoral, staunchly sinewy and unsentimental existential noir style. The usually wanting Ryan O'Neal makes for a surprisingly sturdy and credible protagonist as the titular ace getaway driver, a laconic, audacious, always cool and in control crackerjack wheelman par excellence who's doggedly pursued by a brutish, browbeating, obsessively wacko and determined detective (the ever-manic Bruce Dern in first-rate fruitcake form). Dern tries to collar O'Neal in an elaborate bank robbery set-up, but seriously underestimates O'Neal's razor-sharp cunning and resourcefulness.

Hill's tightly wound direction expertly pumps up the brooding, cold-as-ice atmosphere and makes every minute count: both story and characterizations are cut to the bone, the pace remains taut and fleet throughout, the spare, hard-edged, occasionally profane dialogue mines a fine line in hard-boiled reticence, the nervy cat-and-mouse game between Dern and O'Neal vividly reveals the rigid hierarchy which exists in both cop and criminal subcultures alike, and the justifiably lauded ultra-kinetic, heart-pounding, metal-mangling car chase sequences contain a raw, savage, lump-in-your-throat harrowing power that's undeniably arresting and exciting. Phillip Lathrop's shadowy cinematography and Michael Small's bluesy score add substantially to the overall hard-hitting no-nonsense tone. Dern and O'Neal are fantastic in the lead roles, with able supporting turns by Matt Clark as Dern's whiny, talkative, but more level-headed fussbudget new partner, the lovely Isabelle Adjani as a sweet young thing who gets caught up in the fracas, Ronee Blakely as a cagey underworld connection, and the ubiquitous Bob Minor as a stick-up man. Lean, mean and thoroughly gripping, with no sappy pathos or lame smartalecky humor to detract from the firmly rough-edged goings-on, this authentic no-fooling article truly deserves its significant cult status.

The Driver (Ryan O'Neal) is a professional getaway driver. He is very selective about his jobs and he doesn't get caught. The police Detective (Bruce Dern) has him in his sights. The Player (Isabelle Adjani) is the accomplice. The Detective knows the Player and goes to ever-darker lengths to trap the Driver.

The dialog is minimalist and hard-boiled. No names are given. That can wear thin after awhile. The violence is matter of fact. The car chases are pretty good and deliver solid fun stunts. It is a bit slow in between the action scenes. The actors are all playing the one note. Its distilled style gives the movie a fascinating but manufactured feel. This is an arty representation of a violent crime noir.