Bad Company (1972)

Jake and Drew. They’re the best of friends. And the worst of enemies.

This tale of friendship and survival set during the days of the 1860s focuses on a roguish group of runaways living by their wits and natural instincts. Two of them in particular are complimentary opposites: Drew (Barry Brown, Daisy Miller) is a good boy from God-fearing stock in Ohio, out west to evade the draft. Jake (Jeff Bridges, Rancho Deluxe) is a scruffy scoundrel—a saddle tramp not above a little larceny here and there. Along the trail they encounter a variety of varmints and renegades. And eventually, they find themselves—older and wiser for the journey and friendship. Sensitively and realistically filmed.

Years before their famous pairing as the two Jeff Lebowskis in The Big Lebowski, Jeff Bridges and David Huddleston were adversaries in Robert Benton’s “acid western” Bad Company. Co-starring alongside Bridges, Huddleston and Brown are Jim Davis (TV’s Dallas), John Savage (The Deer Hunter), Jerry Houser (Slap Shot), Geoffrey Lewis (Thunderbolt and Lightfoot) and Ed Lauter (The Last American Hero). The screenplay is by Benton and David Newman, who earlier collaborated on Bonnie and Clyde. Shot on location in Kansas by famed cinematographer Gordon Willis (the Godfather films), the film has been restored in 4K from its original 35mm camera negative and comes to Blu-ray for the first time.

Directed by: Robert Benton
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Barry Brown, Jim Davis, David Huddleston
1972 / 93 min / 1.85 / English Mono