Whenever an actor from Hollywood’s Second Golden Age passes away, my immediate instinct is to think about the iconic car movie/s they starred in. Paul Newman, James Garner, Steve McQueen, Gene Hackman. They all have one. Curiously, I don’t think Robert Reford ever did.
The sad news today is that Robert Redford passed away at age 89. He’s most famous as an actor, starring in a list of all-timers like Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, The Sting, and All The President’s Men. He was also a talented producer and director, with a career that spanned six decades.
In all that time, I don’t think he ever made a great “car” movie. He was even in a film called The Chase, which notably features a train sequence, but few car moments (instead, you get a lot of Robert Redford running and Marlon Brando complaining that Texas is too big).
I’d love to be wrong, but I don’t think I am.
Redford does, however, appear in a film with a perfect movie car. If you’ve seen the top shot, you know what I’m talking about. If not, I’ll run you through the cast of the film, because that’s what I did on the phone with Jason, mostly because it’s incredible.
Robert Refdord… Sidney Poitier… Mary McDonnell… River Phoenix… David Straitharn… Ben Kingsley… Timothy Busfield… Donal Logue… Dan Akroyd!
It’s an early hacker film and, unless you’re David and haven’t seen anything, it’s the best movie you’ve never seen: Sneakers.
The film was moderately popular at the time, but I think it was misrepresented in its original trailer as more silly caper than substantial drama. While it’s funny and not too heavy, Sneakers is a legitimate and rather prescient surveillance state thriller that nicely fills in the gap between The Conversation and Enemy of the State.
It stars Redford as Martin Brice (or Bishop), a Vietnam War-era student hacker who goes on the lam, only to reappear as a “sneaker,” which is essentially a security consultant who tests security systems by trying to break them. He and his team get assigned a mission by two furtive NSA agents, and everything goes wrong, leading to the only car chase I know of between a Volkswagen Karmann Ghia and a Mercury Sable:
Again, not a car movie by any modern standard, the film does include a chase, an extremely memorable scene involving Redford being kidnapped by a car, and one that has Straitharn’s blind character being required to drive an old van.
The Karmann Ghia is what I remember, though, and is extremely fitting for Redford’s character, as cinema fashion site BAMF Style pointed out in a retrospective of the film:
Redford’s character zips through the City by the Bay in a classic Karmann Ghia convertible, weathered but reliable like the then-56-year-old actor himself.
[…]
Martin Bishop drives an orange 1967 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia convertible, its production dating back to his pre-fugitive days. While it’s never explicitly stated, it’s possible that the idealistic Martin had dreamed of owning one during his early days as a “sneaker” and finally obtained one after channeling his abilities to find success as a legitimate consultant.
The car just works in this context, and the one chosen for the film is just imperfect enough to be believable. Redford’s Bishop/Brice is a little too much of an idealist to drive a 911, but also too much of an aesthete and an adrenaline junkie to drive a Beetle. The Karmann Ghia is right in the sweet spot.
In his private life, Redford does seem to have enjoyed cars, including owning a gorgeous Porsche 904 GTS. His good friend Paul Newman is far more famous for being a racer, though Redford was the one who got him into racing in the first place, leading to an extraordinary ongoing prank involving a melted Porsche.
You can watch Sneakers on YouTube Movies with ads. Otherwise, I highly recommend renting it, as it’s impossible to be disappointed by this movie.
Top graphic images: Universal Pictures/Sneakers
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