The Wrath of God (1972)

Director: Ralph Nelson

Writers: Jack Higgins, Ralph Nelson

Composer: Lalo Schifrin

Starring: Robert Mitchum, Frank Langella, Rita Hayworth, John Colicos, Victor Buono, Ken Hutchinson, Paula Pritchett, Gregory Sierra, Frank Ramirez, Enrique Lucero

More info: IMDb

Tagline: They offered them a choice - THE FIRING SQUAD . . . or The Wrath of God

Plot: Set in the 1920s, several foreigners held by a South American military group are offered possible freedom if they accept to topple a local crazed military leader.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Maybe.

I really like Robert Mitchum.  He didn't have much range but he was solid, ya know?  The roles had to fit him instead of the other way around and that's OK.  I'm not looking for Shakespeare out of this guy.  I wanted to like this film a lot more than I did.  It's still a reasonably fun ride but there's something missing and that might be in story and/or direction.  Mitchum is fun, albeit a little too relaxed, as a cigar chewin', tommy gun totin' priest that doesn't have a problem in droppin' the bad guys like flies.

That alone is worth watching the movie.  The rest of the cast is great.  Buono is channeling Sydney Greenstreet (which is probably the main reason for hiring him).  Frank Langella and his criminally good looks plays the bad guy with a little too much flare.  If anyone gets accused of overacting in this picture it's going to be him.  But I like the guy so I'll give him a little slack.  It's neat seeing a young Ken Hutchinson (I didn't recognize him at first but he's tops in my book for playing Marquet, the main bad guy in the excellent LADYHAWKE (1985)).  With such a great cast it's easier to forgive some of the film's shortcomings but overall it's lacking.  Maybe it's the pacing, maybe it's the not-as-good-as-you'd-hope-for-finale-all-things-considering or maybe it's a little too long and a little too light in tone.  I'm an edgy movie kind of guy and by the early 70s more and more movies were going in that direction.  This one plays into that vibe a little but it also feels unnecessarily obligated to stray from it long enough as not to shock the older fanbase of Mitchum and Rita Hayworth (in her final film).