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Plot: After learning that his daughter has been inpregnated by some Alfredo García, a Mexican tycoon sends bounty hunters all over the country to bring him his head. Literally. An American loser, Benny, learns of the reward and of Alfredo García's death, and the prospect of enough money to start over is enough incentive for him to dig out the head. But his troubles have just begun.

Comments: By all accounts, Sam Peckinpah was already over the hill in 1974. I think his only worthwhile film after this one was "Cross of iron", although he still managed to direct a few subpar action films like "The killer elite" or "The Osterman Weekend". Knowing this, I found surprising that this one turned out such a great film. It's easily much better than other Peckinpah films that were much better received, such as "The getaway".

If it has any flaw, apart from being a really weird flick, it is that after a great opening sequence the film slows down so we can know the main characters, Benny and his girlfriend, a bit better. And they're that kind of people you don't want to know. But then, you have to wonder if the rest of the film, which is quite wacky, would have worked as well without those foundations. It is not only that the character of Benny eventually grows on you (he's sort of the ultimate loser, and Warren Oates performance is pure genious), but also that those early scenes are filmed in a quite restrained (for Peckinpah, at least) fashion, and without them the whole film could have ended up as a pure caricature (my guess is that was Oliver Stone's main mistake in "U-Turn", but that's another story).

And when Benny digs out the head and the s**t really hits the fan, it's Peckinpah at his best. There are plenty of wonderfully staged shootouts, each more improbable than the previous one, and Benny emerges more dirty, bloodied and crazied after every bloodbath. As for the ending... it's a weird one, but by then the film has reached such heights of weirdness it somehow seems fitting.  

I have wanted to see this film for a while now, ever since I read Ebert's review of it in his Great Movies book.  But I can't find it.   :bluesad:

It shouldn't be hard to find, it's available on Netflix and Amazon.  Great flick, by the way.  I really need to see it again soon.

I'm a big Peckinpah fan.  I like this movie, own the DVD, and have watched it 3 or 4 times.  It definitely has flaws (the scenes of Oates talking to the head on the front seat of his car and smacking it around are downright ridiculous).  This movie is saved by two things:

* The performance by Warren Oates

* Peckinpah's orchestration of the shootouts

As far as Peckinpah's movies go, I would rank this one somewhere below my favorites, which are:

* STRAW DOGS
* THE WILD BUNCH
* THE GETAWAY
* RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY
* CROSS OF IRON
* PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID
* MAJOR DUNDEE
* THE BALLAD OF CABLE HOGUE

ALFREDO GARCIA would be lumped somewhere with movies like THE OSTERMAN WEEKEND, THE KILLER ELITE, and JUNIOR BONNER.

My least favorite Peckinpah film is CONVOY.

Wild Bunch and Ride the High Country are amongst my favorite westerns.

I too am a HUGE Peckinpah fan. However, I personally consider Alfredo Garcia to be one of his VERY BEST movies. I consider it number two, beneath only Straw Dogs, which is one of my favorite films of all time, regardless of director.

I love Convoy! but mainly for sentimental reasons

I WANT to love Convoy because it represents everything I stand for (1970s drive-in flicks, to be precise).  I just find it a bit slow-going and the characters aren't very interesting.  But I bought the DVD anyway because it's Peckinpah!