Mitchell (1975)

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

A strange choice for Joel's final episode of MST3K, but it's hard to imagine what would be a more appropriate choice. Maybe one of the Russo-Finnish things they covered, like "Sinbad", or "The Day the Earth Froze" (to end on a high note), or "Monster-A-Go-Go" (which embodies the essence of all the crap that MST existed to make fun of.)

I understand why some people don't like Joe Don Baker movies, but my own judgments of his films are influenced memories of one of my best friends in college (since passed away, alas). My friend was an older ex-Army sergeant who was a lot like Baker in many ways, and who would undoubtedly see a lot of himself in Baker's screen persona. A couple of tours of duty in the Army as an enlisted man and non-com had turned him into a self-described "FFS" (Fat F***ing Sergeant): an overweight, dyspeptic, burned out, cynical, hard drinking sad sack. But if you got to know him and got past the outer shell, he was one of the best friends a person could ask for; intelligent, loyal, generous, kind, and hard-working to the point of being a workaholic.

I think that my friend would look at Baker's character in this film (and in "Final Justice") and see Mitchell in the same way he saw himself: someone who doesn't seem at all glamorous or fancy, but still can do whatever it takes to get the job done.

And that's the whole point of Baker's character in "Mitchell": he doesn't look like anyone's idea of an 'action hero', but underneath the flab and the bad attitude is an incorruptible 'real man' who can kick the pretty boys' butts when the chips are down and who stays the course in spite of every obstacle and distraction that would stop a lesser, 'metrosexual' blow comb user. And if the movie does anything well, it at least gets this point across.

It seems to me that Joel and the gang took any excuse to hammer on Baker when the he and his movie weren't really any worse than most of the stuff that came out at the time. In other words, they struck an attitude and then made up 'straw man' targets to attack to justify their attitude, hoping that the sheer venom of their rhetoric would keep the audience from actually making their own decisions...just like Dennis Miller does in his rants. Baker is somewhat heavy, yes, but he's no Charles Durning or Sidney Greenfield (two actors who you DID expect to have a coronary in any given scene). And his character is somewhat unkempt, but the whole beer/baby oil/revulsion thing they paint for him is at least three notches worse than what the movie presents. You don't believe for a moment that Linda Evans would ever go to bed with Mitchell, but OTOH the results wouldn't be nearly so revolting as Joel and the Bots would have you believe.

So.. no, not a good film by any means. But approach it with an open mind, and you'll have a watchable cop flick with a twist on the usual 'action hero' casting and formula.

- lemon_magic