Cutter's Way poster & wallpaper
Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites

Jeff Bridges, John Heard, Lisa Eichhorn, Anne Dusenberry, Stephen Elliott ... see more see more... , Arthur Rosenberg , Nina Van Pallandt , Patricia Donahue , Geraldine Baron , Caesar Cordova , George Dickerson , Billy Drago , Julia Duffy , Tony Epper , Jay Fletcher , Rod Gist , Chris Howell , Leonard Lightfoot , Frank McCarthy , Jack Murdock , Essex Smith , Ted White , Ron Burke , Andy Epper , Chris Noth

After emigrating to the United States in 1969, Czech-born director Ivan Passer finally broke through to American audiences with his fourth film, a unique blend of mystery and social commentary. Cutter... read more read more...'s Way is set in Santa Barbara, CA, a community of wealth and power. Its main characters, however, are among the town's have-nots: Richard Bone Jeff Bridges, a beach-boy gigolo starting to go to seed; Bone's best friend Alex Cutter (John Heard), a Vietnam veteran maimed in body and spirit; and Mo (Lisa Eichorn), Cutter's alcoholic wife. When Cutter spots one of the community's most prominent citizens in the act of covering up a murder, Bone insists that the police would never take their word over that of a man of wealth and prestige. Cutter seizes the opportunity to blackmail the killer, as a means of striking back at a system he thinks sent him off to an unjust war and ruined his life. The film was fortunate to fall into the hands of United Artists Classics, a new division of the company crippled by the financial disaster of Heaven's Gate. UA Classics adroitly marketed Cutter's Way, riding a wave of rave reviews and good word-of-mouth among more discriminating filmgoers to modest box-office success. ~ Tom Wiener, Rovi

Flixster Users

65% liked it

1,368 ratings

Critics

100% liked it

15 critics

R, 1 hr. 45 min.

Directed by: Ivan Passer

Release Date: March 20, 1981

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: July 10, 2001

Stats: 91 reviews

report incorrect info

Photos

Cutter's Way (1981) Cutter's Way Cutter's Way
Upload a Photo | View All Cutter's Way Photos

Your Rating


clear rating

Flixster Reviews (91)

  • fb1341085175
    October 23, 2011
    fb1341085175
    A forgotten paranoia trhiller from the 80s which delivers the goods with complex characters and great performances from Jeff Bridges and John Heard.
  • harrycaul
    January 7, 2009
    harrycaul
    An excellent, slow-burning, occasionally noirish thriller. Jeff Bridges plays Richard Bone, a yacht salesman/gigolo who accidentally witnesses the disposal of a murdered girl's body after his car breaks down in a rainstorm. When Bone thinks he recognises a wealthy local oil tycoo... read moren as the man he saw through the rain that night, his friend Alex Cutter (John Heard), a bitter, alcoholic Vietnam veteran, awakens from his apathetic torpor and embarks on an obsessive quest to bring the 'killer' to justice.

    From the outset Cutter is established as a landlocked, modern day Ahab - indeed, his very first words are a reference to Moby Dick - hunting not so much for the one that got away as for the one that gets away with it: the untouchable, over-privileged leviathan of big business; exactly the kind of guy who stayed home in his well-insulated ivory tower while Cutter was being relieved of an eye, an arm and a leg in Southeast Asia. It's a fascinating idea and, if anything, the script could have done more with it. No matter, because what makes the movie really special is the wonderful love triangle between Heard, Bridges and Lisa Eichhorn, who plays Cutter's wife, Mo. It will give you some idea of how great Eichhorn is in this movie if I say she wipes the floor with Heard and Bridges, both of whom are at least as good here as they've been in anything else; she breaks my heart every time and should have picked up every award going.
  • gator681
    September 29, 2006
    gator681
    [font=Century Gothic]"Cutter's Way" starts out with Richard Bone's(Jeff Bridges) jalopy breaking down in an alley during a rainstorm and he is almost run down by another car. Later, the body of a young woman is discovered in a dumpster there. At first, the police suspect Bone b... read moreut he is released in time to attend a local parade. While there with his best friend, Alex Cutter(John Heard, who is amazing), and Cutter's long suffering wife, Maureen(Lisa Eichhorn), Bone spots the man he saw in the alley. One problem - it turns out to be J. J. Cord, the city's leading industrialist.[/font]
    [font=Century Gothic][/font]
    [font=Century Gothic]"Cutter's Way" is not so much a mystery, as it is a good, solid character study of two friends who have seen better days.(Notice the cars they drive.) Bone has drifted through life with no commitments and is now living on a boat, while working as a boat salesman. On the other hand, Cutter enlisted in the army to fight in the Vietnam War where he was severely crippled(most American soldiers of this war were from poorer families; it is inferred that Cutter is from a wealthy family) and is now angry at the world around him but he is not as crazy as he first seems. Cutter is also one of the only characters who is not automatically deferential to the upper classes.[/font]
  • fb25827189
    April 30, 2012
    fb25827189
    John Heard is SO good in this movie! The plot is, for lack of a better word. Crazy! A disfigured Vietnam Veteran named, Cutter. Who is more known for his drinking. Begins looking into the murder of a young girl, after his friend reveals he may have seen the killer. After a series... read more of ups and downs, both personally and physically. The two men find their opportunity to nab the man, they hold responsible for the heinous crime. Then, it all comes to a head. In one shocking and dramatic ending, that you soon won't forget.
    You gotta check this movie out! Mostly due to John Heard's performance as Cutter, it is amazing!
  • StefanoEarnest
    February 19, 2012
    StefanoEarnest
    Though lacking in both resolution and story line, "Cutter's Way" benefits from strong lead performances, well-written characters, and totally uncompromising direction. Heard and Bridges each deliver equally balanced performances, though Heard often overpowers Bridges from scene t... read moreo scene. It's a snooze-fest, but these kinds of films are always so interesting to me. I enjoyed it.
  • vadermccandless
    February 19, 2012
    vadermccandless
    A brilliantly baffling neo-noir with a typically brilliant turn from Bridges with some of Heard's finest work as well.

View All Cutter's Way Reviews

Critic Reviews

Derek Malcolm
June 24, 2011
Derek Malcolm, This is London

Almost as impressive as Polanski's Chinatown and an extraordinary change of gear from one of the fine Czech New Wave's most notable alumni. Full Review

Antonia Quirke
June 24, 2011
Antonia Quirke, Financial Times

[Heard] is one of America's great lost actors. Full Review

Peter Bradshaw
June 23, 2011
Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK]

The film moves with an easy uncoerced swing: moment by moment, scene by scene, we are unsure what to think or where we are going. It is a fascinating, organically grown drama. Full Review

David Gritten
June 23, 2011
David Gritten, Daily Telegraph

An underrated classic. Full Review

Mark Stafford
June 23, 2011
Mark Stafford, Electric Sheep

Passer continued his wayward career without ever producing anything quite like Cutter again. It's a one-off, a largely overlooked shining gem. Do yourself a favour. Full Review

Thom Hutchinson
June 23, 2011
Thom Hutchinson, Radio Times

Cutter and Bone are seriously unlikeable characters, yet Czech émigré director Ivan Passer and writer Jeffrey Alan Fiskin make us see light in these hearts of darkness. Full Review

Anton Bitel
June 23, 2011
Anton Bitel, Little White Lies

Exceptional script, direction and performances make this elliptical neo-noir a forgotten classic. Full Review

David Parkinson
June 6, 2011
David Parkinson, Empire Magazine

Like the '70s output of Pakula and Lumet, Ivan Passer's tense thriller stands as a classy monument to the paranoia of post-Watergate America. Full Review

Philip Kemp
May 31, 2011
Philip Kemp, Total Film

The three leads are on outstanding form, while Jack Nitzsche's score shimmers with foreboding. Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
July 14, 2010
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Paranoid crime thriller. Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Cast

More Like This

This list looks lonely.
Add a suggestion!

Facts

No facts approved yet. Be the first

Cutter's Way : Watch Free on TV

Movie Quizzes

No quizzes for Cutter's Way. Want to create one?

Video Clips

No video clips yet. Want to upload one?

Meet Other Fans

Add Cutter's Way to favorites

Recent News

No recent headlines. Got one?

Recent Lists

Make a List |

View All Lists

Most Popular Skin

harrycaul Skin by harrycaul
4 Profiles
Add to Profile

More Skins