Somewhere between the simmering racism in Billy Jack and the juiced-in hick mobsters of Walking Tall lives Mr. Majestyk, a truly oddball Charles Bronson vehicle rescued for Blu-ray by the folks at Kino Lorber.
In all candor, Mr. Majestyk is a wild, unfocused mess that is nonetheless impossible to dislike due to its no-bones attitude about itself. It was penned by master crime author Elmore Leonard, and his hand is ever-present in the strange and offbeat characters that populate the story. In more capable directorial hands, the multilayered tale could have been a rich experience. As is, the story of melon farmer Vince Majestyk (Bronson, Once Upon a Time in the West) — whose insistence on social justice lands him in jail, where he runs afoul of mobster Frank Renda (Al Letteri, The Godfather) — careens between social commentary, lowbrow action film and awkward love story, and director Richard Fleischer never finds a decent rhythm.
However, there is place for movies that exist solely to be served with pizza and beer, and there aren’t many more guiltily entertaining than Mr. Majestyk.
