52/72: CISCO PIKE

 by Anthony King

Sometimes there’s only one way to get the monkey off your back.

As I've often written about in the past, Cisco Pike is another film that had been looming large on my watchlist. I believe it was first brought to my attention – as so many films have – by Brian Saur. With a quick pitch of “a dirty cop blackmails a musician into selling a large shipment of marijuana” sold me immediately. But then you find out Gene Hackman plays the dirty cop and Kris Kristofferson plays the musician and it moves from the general watchlist to the must watch list. So, naturally, and unfortunately, films of this “must watch” list that I've watched this year – Crimes of Passion (1984; dislike); The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972, like); From Beyond (1986, liked); Surviving the Game (1994, like); The River Wild (1994, like); Above the Rim (1994, like); Blown Away (1994, like); Natural Born Killers (1994, dislike) – gain a “pre-watched” reputation of being so great it's almost impossible to reach my unattainable expectations. Of the aforementioned films, Surviving the Game is the only one to meet my unfair expectations.

And, while good, Cisco Pike also fails to be elevated to greatness. With a cast that includes Kristofferson, Hackman, Karen Black, and Harry Dean Stanton, you would at least hope for some delicious '70s melodrama. The good news is that we're treated to an absolute buffet of the good schmaltz. Kristofferson is the brooding, sexy musician trying to get his life back on the straight and narrow. Hackman is the sweaty tweaker cop who toes the line of dirty cop and complete lunatic. Black is the put-upon girlfriend who is frequently left in the dust. And Stanton is the parasitic user friend who shows up out of the blue. Like any good cinephile (barf), I am a fan of all four of these actors. I'm always happy to spend time watching these artists disappear into roles that envelop me into the story.

Aside from a minor part in Dennis Hopper's The Last Movie (1971), this is Kristofferson's first major film role. Over the years, Kristofferson has become a terrific actor. As the title character, Kristofferson is asked to play himself but stuck in the middle of a pot boiler of a story. He uses his incredibly handsome looks to swoon women and potential clients. While we never see him perform on stage in the film, we get a taste when he sings a couple verses of a song in a duet with Black. And he supplies several songs for the soundtrack. His acting chops aren’t developed at all here, but it works because Cisco Pike is just a decent young man in trouble. It's heartbreaking to watch him struggle to get out of his old life as a dealer and attempt to put together something that resembles a normal life. In the end (which I won't give away), he does the only you can given the situation life has dealt to him.

I was expecting more of a Straight Time (1978) story with the cop role (Hackman/M. Emmet Walsh) being more of a factor. While Hackman's character is obviously a major part of the story, he's only in a few scenes throughout the film. What I wasn't expecting was a movie about addiction. This is less a movie about a criminal element and more about getting clean and staying clean. Whether Cisco Pike is an addict or not it's not clear. His former best friend (Stanton) and the cop (Hackman) are both addicts, but they represent the element surrounding Cisco from which he can't seem to break free. I've shared my story on several occasions throughout my writing career – a story I won't rehash this time – but any time I get to experience art based on or around addiction, I'm hooked. What Cisco Pike does right is show the “shit” the character is in. Many times we get so far into a situation (ie. an addiction) that it seems there's no way out. Sadly, for many people, ending one's life seems like the only way out. That's never the answer. One thing I will spoil about the film, and possibly to avoid any sort of trigger warning, suicide does not play a role in this film, thankfully. But the choice Cisco makes at the end really does seem like the most logical for him. There is so much heartbreak involved in addiction, and sometimes the choice Cisco makes is the only answer. (Sorry to be so vague, but watch the movie!)

While Cisco Pike couldn't reach the impossible heights of Anthony King's hopes and dreams, it's still a brilliant film, thanks in large part to the ending. It deals as much in cynicism as it does in hope, believe it or not (many would probably disagree about the hope aspect). Of the 10 films I've covered so far in this column, five have been discoveries. Cisco Pike ranks right at the top with Judge Roy Bean, and, hopefully now that it's streaming on Prime after being nearly impossible to stream, more people will take the chance and watch it.