Hollywood legend Robert Redford made a great many films, both in front of and behind the camera, that will long be regarded as classics, and some others that were under-appreciated in their time (plus a few duds here and there as well, let’s be honest). As fans rush to rewatch Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid or The Natural in the wake of the actor’s passing, I was drawn instead toward The Hot Rock, a fizzy little crime caper comedy released a year before his similarly-themed but much more successful hit The Sting.
The Hot Rock didn’t do much business in 1972 and is oft forgotten today, but in a way, the movie’s low profile makes it all the more enjoyable to rediscover five decades later. Much like its characters, the film may have only modest ambitions but works hard to deliver what it promises.
| Title: | The Hot Rock |
| Year of Release: | 1972 |
| Director: | Peter Yates |
| Watched On: | Blu-ray |
| Also Available On: | DVD |
The story in The Hot Rock began life as a 1970 novel by author Donald E. Westlake, and marked the first appearance of his recurring character John Dortmunder, a professional thief who often gets embroiled in comical circumstances. The film adaptation was directed by Peter Yates (Bullitt) with a screenplay by Redford’s Butch Cassidy writer William Goldman. The project was developed as a buddy team-up vehicle for Redford and George Segal, whose career was on an upward trajectory after starring in the romantic comedy The Owl and the Pussycat with Barbra Streisand.
Rather than a period piece like The Sting, The Hot Rock was set in (then) contemporary times. Dortmunder (Redford) is a very clever career criminal who has nonetheless had the bad luck of getting caught a few too many times. With just one more conviction, he’ll be due for a life sentence. Fresh out of his latest (and he hopes last) stint in prison, he’s immediately roped into a new job lined up by his own brother-in-law, a guy called Kelp (Segal) who already makes a good living with a legitimate locksmith business but just loves the thrill of pulling a heist.
Their task is to steal a precious diamond from a museum exhibiting it. Allegedly, this mission is actually for a good cause. Their employer claims to be the representative for an African nation from which the stone was stolen. As diplomatic negotiations have broken down, he wants to bring the diamond home however he can get it, and is willing to pay a fair price, within reason. Dortmunder quickly assesses the situation and develops a plan, bringing in two additional accomplices (along with Kelp) to split the proceeds equally.
Although the break-in doesn’t exactly go smoothly, it seems to end successfully, except for one little hitch. The team loses the diamond almost immediately after getting it. The rest of the movie then follows their efforts to steal the same treasure again – and, as it turns out, again after that, and again. Dortmunder’s careful plans blow up in his face with each attempt, and their employer grows increasingly frustrated with their delays and mounting expenses. Just as they think they’ve finally gotten everything figured out, Zero Mostel (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum) shows up as a crooked lawyer who makes all their lives truly miserable.
At the time of its release, The Hot Rock was dismissed by many critics as a lightweight comedy beneath Robert Redford’s talents. While I can’t argue against the movie being frivolous (it definitely is), the scripting is witty, the characters are engaging, and the plot machinations are a lot of fun. One particular twist involving a hypnotist is perhaps too far-fetched (people in the 1970s really seemed to believe that hypnosis was straight-up mind control), but the rest of them still work great. Redford’s considerable charm easily carries the picture, with ample help from Segal, Mostel, and others. If not one of Redford’s most glamorous or prestigious productions, The Hot Rock is a breezy delight all the same.
The Blu-ray
Twentieth Century Fox licensed The Hot Rock out to boutique distributor Twilight Time for a Blu-ray release in 2018. The disc was promoted as a Limited Edition of 3,000 units but I’m pretty sure that, like most titles from the now-defunct label, it probably took a very long time to actually sell that many. Of course, now that the disc is officially out-of-print and sold-out, speculators are already attempting to exploit star Robert Redford’s death by asking ridiculous prices on the secondary market. At the moment I’m writing this, the movie’s not available for streaming anywhere. Fortunately, I bought the Blu-ray a long time ago and already had it sitting on my shelf.
The video master was presumably provided by Fox. The 2.35:1 image looks a little dated in quality but is generally solid. Sharpness and detail are fair, except for the optical composites during the opening credits and a very weird camera focus problem at about 1 hr. 16 min. Colors and contrast look nice. Film grain is weakly resolved and sometimes mushy. Whether that’s due to a little Digital Noise Reduction or just a low bit-rate encoding, I can’t say for certain. In any case, if perhaps imperfect, the video is very watchable. I don’t expect Fox (or current corporate owners at Disney) to spend any time or money remastering a movie of such niche interest anytime soon.
I wish I had nicer things to say about the disc’s audio quality. Twilight Time offered the movie’s soundtrack in a choice of either the original theatrical mono or a stereo-surround remix, both encoded in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 format (though the packaging and disc menus claim the mono is 1.0). The disc defaults to the stereo mix unless you manually choose otherwise.
Both tracks are very unsatisfying. I spent a lot of time flipping back and forth between them, trying to settle on the one I found less disappointing. The stereo mix is louder and has a little more bass, but dialogue and effects sound awkwardly hollow, the Quincy Jones musical score has obviously been processed into fake stereo to gimmicky results, and analog hiss is elevated to a distracting extent.
Despite all that, my first reaction was that the mono sounded much weaker and duller. However, after boosting my master volume a little and settling in with it, I found the mono track preferable overall. It avoids most of the above problems. One of the characters in the film likes to play with bombs, and his explosions sound truly terrible in the over-processed stereo mix, whereas they’re decidedly crisper and clearer in mono. That said, I didn’t love either option.
The only extras on the Blu-ray are a theatrical trailer, an isolated music track, and an audio commentary by writer Lem Dobbs (The Limey) with Twilight Time’s Nick Redman (R.I.P.) and Julie Kirgo. Like most Twilight Time releases, the enclosed booklet also contains an essay about the film by Kirgo.
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