Papillon (1973)
Safe cracker Henri Charrière (Steve McQueen) is falsely imprisoned for murder and sentenced to hard labor on Devil’s Island where he forms an unlikely partnership with scrawny embezzler Louis Dega (Dustin Hoffman) as they attempt to escape.
To baby boomers, Steve McQueen is the epitome of cool, the idolized hero of their youth, but his movies are dated and he plays one role repeatedly: Steve McQueen.
On the other end of the spectrum, Dustin Hoffman can play any character. Louis Dega is the most interesting thing in this film. Despite his two Academy Awards, Hoffman is an underrated actor.
To go from campy science fiction, to huge war epic, to this, an intimate portrait of a notorious prison escapee in a five-year period is a testament to Franklin Schaffner’s versatility as a director.
I liked this movie, but it plays like a pale imitation of Shawshank Redemption (1994). Charrière’s exploits are interesting, but it’s difficult to care about the fate of an unrepentant criminal.
It may be Steve McQueen’s best work, but it’s underwhelming, and not as good as it could have been.