A cross-country trip with an escaped convict and a ditzy girlfriend, along with a naive cop in tow, has been a formula recipe for action-driven scripts for years since the 1970's. The remarkable thing about "The Sugarland Express" is that it is a fun, raucous ride despite needing an infusion of deeper character interplay. Also, this trip is mostly through the state of Texas.
William Atherton is the slightly dim Clovis who is incarcerated and will be released in four months. Goldie Hawn is Lou Jean, Clovis's wife, and she is visiting him after a long journey only to tell him the marriage is over. Their own son is in foster care and there's nothing Jean can do about it. End of movie? No, this is just the beginning of an endless chase film when Jean decides that Clovis needs to leave with her and get their young son. They escape in an older couple's car though the old man can't speed up. Finally, after a cop pulls them over for slowing down traffic, Clovis and Jean take the wheel and leave like a bat out of hell. A initially nervous patrolman Slide (Michael Sacks) chases them, is held hostage and forced to drive the couple in his squad car. You would think a less obvious vehicle would be more beneficial, but then you would be lying. In what seems like a whole squadron of police cars, the chase is on...in slow motion! That's right, they are on all their tail but the felons and the patrolman are not exactly traveling at high speeds. At one point, they pull over to get gas while the other officers also get gas!
"The Sugarland Express" benefits greatly from the appearance of Ben Johnson as Captain Tanner, who realizes the felons are just a couple of kids. Yes, they are, and contextually they are not quite the imminent threat of the murderous felons from "Badlands" - they just don't know better. Goldie Hawn shows Jean as giddy and carefree, concerned over what type of bed to get for their boy. Jean puts on lipstick provided by locals (the threesome have become celebrities) and they receive odd gifts like a pig! There are just as many police cars on the chase as shown in "The Blues Brothers" with a few crashes along the way.
There are few interactive moments between Clovis and Jean who love each other completely, though I wish there were more. One scene has them breaking in and staying in an RV at an auto lot. They manage to see through their window a Wile E. Coyote cartoon at a drive-in across the way. Clovis provides the soundtrack for the cartoon and, after a while, he turns silent and stares at the screen. Jean keeps giggling. It is a transcendental moment and an ominous sign for Clovis without much explanation or words. "The Sugarland Express" is an expertly made chase picture but it is the quieter moments that really resonate.
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