“Mr. Majestyk”

Movie Review

A 1974 American action movie titled Mr. Majestyk was written by Elmore Leonard and directed by Richard Fleischer. As the title character, played by Charles Bronson, a veteran of the Vietnam War and melon farmer who runs afoul of gangsters, he engages in conflict. The name Majestyk came from a character in Leonard's 1969 crime novel The Big Bounce, which he wrote along with an original screenplay for. He would also write the novelization of the film.

Vince Majestyk, played by Charles Bronson, owns and runs a watermelon farm in rural Colorado. He is a farmer, a former felon, a former U.S. Army Ranger instructor, and a Vietnam War veteran. He must quickly harvest his crop in order to maintain the farm's financial viability. Majestyk is pressured into joining a protection scheme in which his watermelon crop is harvested by incompetent drunks by Bobby Kopas, a small-time hood played by Paul Koslo. Using Kopas' shotgun to frighten him away, Majestyk hires talented Mexican migrant workers like Linda Cristal's Nancy Chavez, a crop picker and union organizer. Before Majestyk can finish the crop, Kopas accuses him of assault, and the farmer is then taken into custody.

Majestyk meets and irritates Frank Renda while he is being transferred to a higher-security prison, a notorious mob hitman. During a bus ride carrying prisoners, Renda's men attempt to free him from police custody. Majestyk attempts to escape in the bus while Renda is still restrained, eventually transporting him to his hunting cabin in the nearby foothills. Majestyk wants Renda released so he can finish harvesting his melons in exchange for being given to the police. Renda offers his captor $25,000 for his freedom, but Majestyk declines. Renda then threatens Majestyk with death if he does not release him, and Majestyk pretends to be persuaded to accept the money, but instead contacts both the police and Renda's mafia contacts to come pick them up.

Renda's girlfriend, Wiley, arrives and they manage to turn the tables on Majestyk, though he escapes. Renda learns that the charges that had landed him in prison have been dropped. As Renda meets with Lundy, his right-hand guy, he is advised to travel to Mexico and have fun. Renda declines because he wants to exact revenge on Majestyk. In order to personally assassinate the "melon picker," he arranges for Kopas to drop the assault charges against Majestyk and gives the order to his men to find him.

They go to the farm to kill Majestyk, but when they can't find him, they start shooting the melons and beating up the hired help, which makes them leave. The same evening, Majestyk and Nancy are enjoying a drink at a local bar when Renda approaches and informs Majestyk that he intends to kill him. Majestyk, who refuses to be intimidated, knocks Renda to the ground while ordering him to "call the cops," further enraging Renda. The next day, Kopas badly injures Majestyk's foreman Larry Mendoza, as he tries to deliver a load of melons, putting him in hospital.

Majestyk escapes in the back of a pickup truck driven by Nancy, sparking a protracted car chase as Renda and his men surround Majestyk's house. The cops set up obstacles and launch a chopper trying to find them. Majestyk lures Renda and his men into the foothills where he turns the tables on them and attacks, killing the majority of Renda's soldiers in the process. Renda retreats to their lodge hideout, where he, Wiley, Lundy, and Kopas hide out after realizing they are now the hunted. Renda sends Wiley outside to negotiate with Majestyk, intending to force him to show himself, but Majestyk sends her away with Nancy. Majestyk enters the cabin after taking their car's keys, killing Lundy after Renda sacrifices him to protect himself. Realizing that Renda will also make a sacrifice of him to reach Majestyk, Kopas, disgusted, decides to leave. Majestyk successfully murders Renda with Kopas' assistance after getting the upper hand. Soon after they arrive, the police detain Kopas and Wiley while Majestyk departs with Nancy.

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