On 10 January 2022, I felt like an easy-going genial movie watch, with no sensational CGI or raw passions a-blazing, just an amusing feel-good film with some mild action here and there, to pass a relaxing 90 mins or so watching it. So I chose my ex-rental big box video of the road movie Renegade (aka They Call Me Renegade).
Directed by E.B. Clucher, and released by Paloma Films/Cinecitta in 1987, Renegade stars Terence Hill (who also co-wrote its story) as Luke, an amiable drifter and low-level con-artist whose skills with his fists frequently have to get him out of the trouble that his skills with his wits just as frequently get him into. Nevertheless, his Renegade jeep and his horse Joe Brown enable Luke to move freely around the southwest USA, with no ties or responsibilities - until, that is, his friend Moose (England's Norman Bowler), currently in jail for a crime he claims he never committed, asks to see him.
And when Luke arrives, he learns to his shock that Moose has forged his signature onto the ownership papers of a property in Arizona that he, Moose, won in a poker game, and he insists that Luke pretends to be its legal owner and lives in it for 2 years to take care of it until Moose is released. But that's not all.
Luke also has to take in and take care of Moose's rebellious young teenage son Matt (played by Hill's adopted real-life son, Ross Hill, who tragically was killed in a car accident aged just 16 in 1990). And because he is greatly in Moose's debt (for reasons that we learn later), Luke can hardly say no.
So off he sets to Arizona (which is where the movie was filmed) with the decidedly surly, taciturn, cocky Matt, but as happens in all the best buddy movies, eventually they acquire a grudging respect for one another and eventual friendship. In particular, Luke is massively impressed by Matt's incredible sharpshooting abilities - whether it be with a gun, a knife, a rock, a dart, his aim is perfect, a bulls-eye every time. Matt's skill proves very useful, very often, because he and Luke soon discover that a surprising number of strangers seem determined to end their journey, and their lives, asap.
Ultimately, it transpires that these would-be assassins are all being sent after them by a shady businessman named Lawson (Robert Vaughn), but why? Who really is Lawson, and what secret do Luke and Matt's father Moose unknowingly know about him? Whatever it is, it's enough for Lawson to have framed Moose to get him locked away behind bars, and enough to do all that he can to eliminate Luke, and Matt too (being Moose's son). Happily, a mighty gang of outlaw bikers unexpectedly comes to their rescue, and finally Luke discovers the shocking truth about Lawson.
All in all, Renegade is a thoroughly enjoyable blast with likeable main characters that you instinctively root for, and plays out along similar lines to Every Which Way But Loose, Smokey and the Bandit, Norwood (reviewed by me here), etc. And as this fun flick even includes some great songs by Lynyrd Skynyrd, how can it possibly go wrong? Answer: quite simply, it doesn't - highly recommended!!
And to see – as well as hear – what I mean, be sure to click here to check out an official Renegade trailer on YouTube.
To view a complete chronological listing of all of my Shuker In MovieLand blog's other film reviews and articles (each one instantly accessible via a direct clickable link), please click HERE, and please click HERE to view a complete fully-clickable alphabetical listing of them.
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