Joseph Sargent deserves attention for his work with actors and historical drama. Jaws: The Revenge shows how badly he could misjudge suspense, but it is a poor guide to what he could do.
Fi1m perspective
In Jaws: The Revenge (1987), Joseph Sargent brings back footage from Jaws while Ellen Brody fears for her family. The interruption makes it harder to care about her, and encourages a comparison the sequel cannot survive. We were bored by the insistence on the shark's grievance, because the attacks supplied too little suspense to make us stop questioning it. This is Sargent failing at something basic: keeping our attention on the present danger.
His earlier work gives us good reason not to stop there. He moved from television series such as Lassie and Gunsmoke to features including Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) and The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974). For the latter, he handled the difficulties of shooting a heist thriller in the New York subway. With MacArthur (1977), starring Gregory Peck, he also took on the sort of biographical material that would recur in his television work.
Even in Jaws: The Revenge, the actors are not the main problem. Lorraine Gary and Michael Caine bring warmth to a film that otherwise gives us little reason to stay, and Ellen's fear is a workable basis for a thriller. Michael De Guzman's screenplay keeps demanding belief in the animal's motive, and Sargent takes it far too seriously. Michael Small's score supplies a threat the images cannot sustain, leaving the composer to do work the director has failed to do.
After that final theatrical feature, he concentrated almost exclusively on television films and miniseries until 2008. Miss Evers' Boys (1997), about the Tuskegee syphilis study, drew on his ability to handle ensembles and sensitive material. Something the Lord Made (2004), about a pioneering heart surgeon, continued his work with biographical subjects. These are stronger reasons to follow Sargent than an attempt to rescue the shark film, whose few pleasures cannot excuse its lack of suspense. Start with The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, and leave Jaws: The Revenge to those determined to be thorough.
Biography
Joseph Sargent (born Giuseppe Danielle Sorgente) was an American film and television director, producer and actor. Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1925, he began his career as an actor before moving into directing in the late 1950s. He worked extensively in television, directing episodes of series including Star Trek, Gunsmoke and Kojak, as well as numerous television films.
His feature films include Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970), White Lightning (1973), The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), MacArthur (1977) and Nightmares (1983). He directed and produced Jaws: The Revenge (1987). Sargent won four Primetime Emmy Awards for his television work and received multiple Directors Guild of America nominations. He died in Malibu, California, in 2014.
