Cutter's Way 1981 / Cutters Hevn

The laid-back Californian gigolo Richard Bone (Jeff Bridges) finds himself suspected of murder when he happens to see the wrong thing at the wrong time: the body of a young girl being dumped into a garbage can in a quiet Santa Monica neighbourhood. Bone’s friend, the capricious and paranoid Vietnam veteran Cutter, (John Heard), begins to suspect a conspiracy behind the killing, with local oil tycoon J.J. Cord (Stephen Elliott) at its centre. He persuades a reluctant Bone to try and take Cord down, leading to a sinister escalation of events that will change their lives forever. Featuring career-best performances from its cast, a memorable score from Jack Nitzsche and pitch-perfect direction from Ivan Passer, the cynical and devastating Cutter’s Way is one of the defining films of the post-Vietnam, post-Watergate era - a defiant howl of frustration at the corruption of the American dream, and one of the most essential California noirs ever made.