Cutter's Way (1981)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Matheus C

  
  A forgotten paranoia trhiller from the 80s which delivers the goods with complex characters and great performances from Jeff Bridges and John Heard.

• Stephen M

  
  An excellent, slow-burning, occasionally noirish thriller. Jeff Bridges plays Richard Bone, a yacht salesman/gigolo who accidentally witnesses the disposal of a murdered girl's body after his car breaks down in a rainstorm. When Bone thinks he recognises a wealthy local oil… More
  An excellent, slow-burning, occasionally noirish thriller. Jeff Bridges plays Richard Bone, a yacht salesman/gigolo who accidentally witnesses the disposal of a murdered girl's body after his car breaks down in a rainstorm. When Bone thinks he recognises a wealthy local oil tycoon as the man he saw through the rain that night, his friend Alex Cutter (John Heard), a bitter, alcoholic Vietnam veteran, awakens from his apathetic torpor and embarks on an obsessive quest to bring the 'killer' to justice. From the outset Cutter is established as a landlocked, modern day Ahab - indeed, his very first words are a reference to <I>Moby Dick</I> - hunting not so much for the one that got away as for the one that gets away <I>with it</I>: the untouchable, over-privileged leviathan of big business; exactly the kind of guy who stayed home in his well-insulated ivory tower while Cutter was being relieved of an eye, an arm and a leg in Southeast Asia. It's a fascinating idea and, if anything, the script could have done more with it. No matter, because what makes the movie really special is the wonderful love triangle between Heard, Bridges and Lisa Eichhorn, who plays Cutter's wife, Mo. It will give you some idea of how great Eichhorn is in this movie if I say she wipes the floor with Heard and Bridges, both of whom are at least as good here as they've been in anything else; she breaks my heart every time and should have picked up every award going.

• Walter M

  
  [font=Century Gothic]"Cutter's Way" starts out with Richard Bone's(Jeff Bridges) jalopy breaking down in an alley during a rainstorm and he is almost run down by another car. Later, the body of a young woman is discovered in a dumpster there. At first, the police… More
  [font=Century Gothic]"Cutter's Way" starts out with Richard Bone's(Jeff Bridges) jalopy breaking down in an alley during a rainstorm and he is almost run down by another car. Later, the body of a young woman is discovered in a dumpster there. At first, the police suspect Bone but he is released in time to attend a local parade. While there with his best friend, Alex Cutter(John Heard, who is amazing), and Cutter's long suffering wife, Maureen(Lisa Eichhorn), Bone spots the man he saw in the alley. One problem - it turns out to be J. J. Cord, the city's leading industrialist.[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]"Cutter's Way" is not so much a mystery, as it is a good, solid character study of two friends who have seen better days.(Notice the cars they drive.) Bone has drifted through life with no commitments and is now living on a boat, while working as a boat salesman. On the other hand, Cutter enlisted in the army to fight in the Vietnam War where he was severely crippled(most American soldiers of this war were from poorer families; it is inferred that Cutter is from a wealthy family) and is now angry at the world around him but he is not as crazy as he first seems. Cutter is also one of the only characters who is not automatically deferential to the upper classes.[/font]

• Jason R

  
  John Heard is SO good in this movie! The plot is, for lack of a better word. Crazy! A disfigured Vietnam Veteran named, Cutter. Who is more known for his drinking. Begins looking into the murder of a young girl, after his friend reveals he may have seen the killer. After a series of… More
  John Heard is SO good in this movie! The plot is, for lack of a better word. Crazy! A disfigured Vietnam Veteran named, Cutter. Who is more known for his drinking. Begins looking into the murder of a young girl, after his friend reveals he may have seen the killer. After a series of ups and downs, both personally and physically. The two men find their opportunity to nab the man, they hold responsible for the heinous crime. Then, it all comes to a head. In one shocking and dramatic ending, that you soon won't forget. You gotta check this movie out! Mostly due to John Heard's performance as Cutter, it is amazing!

• Stephen E

  
  Though lacking in both resolution and story line, "Cutter's Way" benefits from strong lead performances, well-written characters, and totally uncompromising direction. Heard and Bridges each deliver equally balanced performances, though Heard often overpowers Bridges… More
  Though lacking in both resolution and story line, "Cutter's Way" benefits from strong lead performances, well-written characters, and totally uncompromising direction. Heard and Bridges each deliver equally balanced performances, though Heard often overpowers Bridges from scene to scene. It's a snooze-fest, but these kinds of films are always so interesting to me. I enjoyed it.