The Mechanic is a 1972 American action thriller film directed by Michael Winner, produced by Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff, and written by Lewis John Carlino. The film stars Charles Bronson, Keenan Wynn, Jill Ireland, and Jan-Michael Vincent.
Plot[]
Arthur Bishop (Charles Bronson) is a veteran hit man who, owing to his penchant for making his targets' deaths seem like accidents, thinks himself an artist. It's made him very rich, but as he hits middle age, he's so depressed and lonely that he takes on one of his victim's sons, Steve McKenna (Jan-Michael Vincent), as his apprentice. Arthur puts him through a rigorous training period and brings him on several hits. As Steven improves, Arthur worries that he'll discover who killed his father.
Cast[]
- Charles Bronson as Arthur Bishop
- Jan-Michael Vincent as Steve McKenna
- Keenan Wynn as "Big" Harry McKenna
- Jill Ireland as The Girl
- Linda Ridgeway as Louise
- Frank de Kova as The Man
- James Davidson as Intern
- Lindsey Crosby as Policeman
- Steve Vinovich as Party Guest
- Takayuki Kubota as Yamoto
Reception[]
Critical response[]
Roger Ebert praised Bronson's performance, noting that he appears to be truly listening to Vincent rather than simply waiting for him to stop for Bronson's next line. While finding the plot twists "neat", Ebert found that director Winner failed to squarely address the relationship between the leads in favor of too many boring action sequences. Judith Crist dismissed the film as "a banal expedition into slaughter and sadism and stupid dialogue". Any hint of authenticity, she wrote, was obliterated by Winner's "bang-bang-bang approach".