Steve McQueen's final film is at least a bit of an improvement after the disappointing An Enemy of the People and Tom Horn. McQueen is a great fit as the Western hero born in the wrong era, giving a fine charismatic performance as Ralph Thorson (a real life modern bounty hunter, mainly bringing in bail jumpers) instead of just going through his action guy motions.
There are some great little tics which point to a sadly denied career as a rugged middle-aged tough guy in a Clint Eastwood mould; McQueen looks surprisingly natural in glasses restoring old toys in his den and there's a great running joke about Thorson's complete inability to park a car.
It's just a shame the rest of the film's not worthy of him. The whole thing reeks of TV movie, from the episodic narrative through the flat, unimaginative direction from the unheralded Buzz Kulik (who even muffs the money-shot train-top chase) right down to Ben Johnson and Eli Wallach's billed supporting roles amounting to a few minutes' screentime combined. A very young LeVar Burton adds a bit of zap but it's not surprising that audiences shunned the thing at the time; even now it's only really remembered because of McQueen's sad demise a few months after filming wrapped.
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