Little Fauss and Big Halsy

I dig Biker Film, they were a nice piece of the exploitation genre that sadly went away too soon.  They were usually the variation of two types of plot.  Bikers must fight someone, or rival bikers fight each other.  Sometimes you got a cool twist where the bikers were monsters. 




Well in the case of this film Little Fauss and Big Halsy you get more of a character drama set against the racing circuit.  It stars Robert Redford in one of his lesser know roles.  Over the years however it has developed a pretty big cult following.  Google Little Fa and it pops up before you finish typing out Fauss. Well the kind folks over at Olive Pictures are releasing this for the first time ever on Blue Ray on October 18th.  And I must say the quality is out of this world stunning for a lost film of the 70's




Its the story of the hard drinking womanizing Big Halsy, played to perfection by Robert Redford.  See Halsy has been banned from the pro racing circuit for his drunken antics and hot temper.  Its at a small amateur race he meets Little Fauss.  A young naive rider who starts to idolize the way Halsy lives his life. His parents hate Halsy and think he's a bad influence, what with him being a drunk jerk.  But they strike up a friendship non the less.

Now as Halsy cant compete he has the idea of racing but using Fauss's name, and Fauss will help him by being his mechanic. The plan works except for the fact that Halsy treat Fauss like dirt.  It doesn't help when a woman named Rita Nebraska shows up who they both are attracted to.  Needless to say you can pretty much guess where it goes from here, as the fragile friendship they have is torn apart when she chooses to be with Big Halsy

Of course this all cumulates with a big race at the end in which the two go head to head.  Sure there are things that happen before this but if I told you everything there would be no reason to watch, and you really should
.


I'm not a huge Redford fan but man doe he scream James Dean cool in this film.  He plays the troubled care free smooth talking Halsy to perfection.  The whole cast is good but its all Redford's film.  He chews every scene to perfection, and shows why he has been an active player in Hollywood all these years.




I really have to put Olive Films over again for this fantastic transfer.  The outside scenes all pop with little to no grain visible.  Sound quality is outstanding as the race scenes scream through your speakers.




If you a fan of biker films, drama, 70s films, or Robert Redford this is a must watch film that I highly recommend.




Overall 3 out of 5 stars!