Running Target

Whoa, first commenter missed the point of this movie entirely...Jaynes is a killer with a license and a high powered rifle, and volunteers for this manhunt for one reason. To kill. The sheriff has seen him in action many times, doesn't want the dude around, but Jaynes weasels in anyway, thus we have a built in conflict from the start. Three of the escaped convicts aren't murderers, just people seeing a chance at freedom and taking it. The sheriff want's to round them up without bloodshed, he's aware that we all share a common bond regardless of our situations. Yep, we also have the love triangle thing, the jealousy, and many other aspects rolled into this movie, but the main theme is that we all screw up now and then, we're all human, and we shouldn't kill others for the pure enjoyment of pulling the trigger and watching them hit the dirt. That's what Jaynes thrives on, and why the sheriff smashes his high end rifle to bits on a rock toward the end of the movie. Overall theme? There is good and bad in all of us, it just flourishes in different degrees. Trivia: Murvyn Vye couldn't cut the roll of Jaynes, and was fired, replaced by Reeves, who had a very small role in the movie up to that point. He took it and flew with it, did an excellent job portraying the sociopath, the remorseless killer. Of the many movies that were based on Steve Frazee stories, this was one of the best, a sleeper b budget flick that stuck to the script thanks to the insight of budding director/cameraman Jack Couffer, and the killer camera-work of upstart Conrad Hall.