Steve McQueen stars as a nice jerk in Northern Mississippi in 1905. However, the focus of the film really is on young Mitch Vogel and is about his initiation into the sluttier side of life. Odd that despite his prominence in the film he received such low billing. This is a coming of age story about the South from William Faulkner and while in many ways it is a family film, the themes that appear in it make it far from family-friendly. This is certainly not a Disney flick! Now for older kids, it's probably okay but with the sexual content, whore house setting and morally shaky lead characters, it's a bit problematic for the younger crowd.

Now if you ignore all the debauchery in this film and the cliché about "hookers with hearts of gold", then it is an excellent character study and does have some lovely performances and is finely crafted--just don't let your kids internalize the messages or you'll be sorry!

This movie holds a special significance to me as it was one of my late father's favorites. It's a William Faulkner coming-of-age story about a boy named Lucius (Mitch Vogel) in early 1900s Mississippi. Lucius looks up to Boon (Steve McQueen),the immature handyman on his grandfather's plantation. Boon convinces Lucius to help him "borrow" the grandfather's brand new car and drive to Memphis to see Boon's prostitute girlfriend (Sharon Farrell). Tagging along for the ride is Lucius' older cousin Ned (Rupert Crosse),who's almost as irresponsible as Boon. Once in Memphis, a lot of things happen and they wind up needing to win a horse race to get the grandfather's car back.

McQueen is good in a role a little outside of his wheelhouse. Vogel, Farrell, and Crosse are all good as well. Will Geer plays the grandpa. Light-hearted but with some serious moments. In many ways it plays like a Disney film of the period, except with whores and people using the N-word. William Faulkner is probably my favorite Southern author but his work hasn't been considered easy to translate to screen. This is one of the better efforts.

Following a string of successful movies in which Steve McQueen developed his brash, cool, loner persona, he decided to take an artistic leap of faith and portray a character going against type. The decision caused him much concern because he wasn't sure if he could do comedy well, and at times felt like the picture might have led to career suicide. In a way, McQueen felt he might have been letting down his fans, betraying the public for doing a comedy.

He needn't have worried. "The Reivers" was well received at the box office in this country, although the foreign market was not as receptive to the story, based on a slice of William Faulkner's Americana. Notwithstanding McQueen's starring role, the story has more to do with a young boy's coming of age, as eleven year old Lucius McCaslin (Mitch Young) embarks on an auto excursion from Jefferson, Mississippi to Memphis, Tennessee with rascally Boon Hogganbeck (McQueen) and his own woodpile cousin Ned McCaslin (Rupert Cross). This may be one of the very few times in movie history a familial relationship is suggested between a white boy and a black man, but it works for the story and isn't really a prevailing factor in the telling.

Probably the most effective scenes in the picture involve young Lucius as well. Particularly moving are his conversation with Corrie (Sharon Farrell),a hooker with a heart of gold, and later on with his granddad 'Boss' (Will Geer),after having learned a valuable life lesson about lying, cheating, brawling and womanizing. Those last two were traits of father figure Boon, but Lucius kept his eyes wide open and was a good student of the human condition.

According to Steve McQueen though, the real star of the picture was the yellow Winton Flyer that grandpa Boon bought, which was hijacked by the principal players on their merry journey. The car was made especially for the movie, and was kept by McQueen after filming as part of his personal collection until his death in 1980. It can still be seen and admired at the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California.