LINK: BULLITT REVIEW (1968)
Lieutenant Frank Bullitt, played by the legendary Steve McQueen, is a quiet
no-nonsense detective for the San Francisco Police Department. He is asked by
the ambitious politician, Walter Chambers, to protect a key witness in a court-case
of embezzlement from the Chicago mob. However,
before the night is over two hit-men break into the witness's room, they shoot
him and wound a police officer. Chambers blames Bullitt and his team for
allowing this to happen, but Bullitt is suspicious, because the witness seems
to have let the hit-men in on purpose. Despite Chambers protests, Bullitt
decides to investigate the case himself and discovers all is not what it seems.
What ensues is in the investigation is a lengthy car-chase through the hilly streets
of San Francisco, followed by the discovery of the now dead witness’s murdered
girlfriend and a shoot-out at the airport. Bullitt is exonerated, the case is
closed and Chambers looks a fool.
To modern viewers this film's pace seems a tad slow, it's commitment
to realism and procedural accuracy jars
with the modern appetite for all out escapist action, but we have to remember
that it was such a breakthrough movie at the time for the very reasons I have
just described.
Frank Bullitt is not a muscle bound, wisecracking action hero, he is
simply a police detective trying to get on with his job. He has a team and he
cares about his officers, he has a boss who he listens to and is honest with, he
has a girlfriend, an artist, who struggles with his involvement with the seedy
underbelly of city life and fears he is becoming emotionally cut off from
normal life. All-in-all he seems to be an average mid-level cop trying to do
his duty. The only fantasy part of the movie seems to be his penchant for and
access to amazing American muscle cars from that era.
It seems to me that what really singles Bullitt out from your typical
Hollywood Action Hero is integrity. In a shadowy world where the bad guys look
just like the good guys, and nobody really stands out from the crowd, it’s
Bullitt’s character that makes the difference. Chambers wants his day in court,
he wants the limelight, he wants to be seen to be doing the right thing.
Bullitt just wants to catch the real culprit, to conduct himself with integrity
and determination, to fulfil his duty and get to the truth, to simply do the
right thing.
I wonder what’s more important to you: fame or function; recognition
or responsibility; distinction or duty? The writer of the wisdom sayings in the
book of Proverbs states: ‘Everyone may think his own way of living is right, but
the Eternal God examines our hearts. To do what is right and to seek justice—these
please Him more than sacrifice.’ (Proverbs 23:2-3). The proverb writer
recognised that God examines our motives. Like the pushy politician Chambers we
can sometimes try and justify our actions by appearances, but God sees through
that, He knows what’s really going on in our hearts. Integrity, truth and justice
with ourselves and others matters far more to God than religious performance,
political slickness, or personal well-being and comfort. Bullitt put his life
on the line to do the right thing, what would you do?
