The Sugarland Express
Director: Steven Spielberg
Year Released: 1974
Rating: 2.0
Spielberg's first big-screen feature (he worked in television first) about two uneducated criminals who kidnap a member of the State Police and force him to drive to Sugar Land, where they, in their delusional state, somehow believe they can pry their baby from the hands of the people that adopted it. It tries to do too much: be an action picture, a comedy (which it fails at - the same 'it's never too much' humor was also in Spielberg's 1941) and a drama (I believe we're supposed to like/admire the main characters), but is mostly just a predictable car chase movie as virtually every police officer in Texas follows them very slowly, unable to do much of anything to stop them. The ending - which I'm guessing is intended to be 'poignant' - is the most realistic part of the movie.
