Let’s face it: John Boorman’s ‘70s succès de scandal put the image of Appalachian people back 50, maybe 100 years. Viewed more than 50 years on, however, the entitled proto-bro hubris of Burt Reynolds’ would-be Natural Man and his crew of Atlanta slickers (Jon Voight, Ronnie Cox, and Ned Beatty) makes their brutal fates seem even more like comeuppance than misadventure. -Lee Gardner
1972 John Boorman 2.35:1 Color DCP 109 min.
