Most of Lucius' family travels to a funeral, leaving Lucius behind with Boon and Ned. Boon promptly devises a field trip to his favorite whorehouse in Memphis, where Lucius builds a mother-son relationship with Boon's sweetheart, Corrie (Sharon Farrell).
Meanwhile, Ned has traded the costly family automobile for a racehorse that has lost the will to compete. But fear not, a happy ending is in store for all concerned. Even the bullying sheriff, Clifton James, gets what he wants.
Based on a novel by William Faulkner. You'll probably recognize the voice of Burgess Meredith (a.k.a. The Penguin, or Rocky's manager) as the narrator.
How others will see it. The Reivers is as much a comedy as it is a drama. It has a feel-good flavor to it, and even when the leads are all in jail, it doesn't seem likely that they will stay there very long. And they don't.
But the audience has to accept some dubious character traits and events, which, as usual, are present to make the film more likeable. Corrie is the world's nicest and least corrupted cathouse callgirl. Lucius is so earnest that he says his prayers at night, on his knees. Ned laughs when Boon points a firearm at him and takes two shots, barely missing him. Corrie leaves with ne'er-do-well Boon, and stays with him even after she gets a black eye from him. Boon allows Ned to race the stallion even though it likely means its loss. The prostitutes, and madam, join Boon and company in a melee against the local police. Lucius, whom we have never seen on a horse before, is presented as a great jockey. Boon and Lucius treat Ned as an equal, despite the pervasive racism in the South in 1905. Lucius escapes punishment (as do Boon and Ned, apparently) for their misadventure.
Fortunately, classic movie and family film fans will pay little attention to story elements that don't quite fit. They are in search of entertainment, and they will find it. McQueen is an "A"-movie lead, Sharon Farrell is a heartbreaker, and freckle-faced Mitch Vogel is sufficiently adorable to bring the mother out in any woman.
Rupert Crosse received a supporting actor Oscar nomination, a great rarity at the time for a black performer.
How I felt about it. I am less forgiving. Undoubtedly, William Faulkner knew more about the 1905 South than I ever will, but Faulkner died in 1962, years before production of the feature film began. I have not read the source novel, and am unaware of its historical accuracy to begin with.
Such disclaimers aside, The Reivers appears to be revisionist history. The prostitutes are more honorable than the police, blacks are accepted as equal members in a well-to-do 1905 Mississippi family, a first-class prostitute leaves her position to run off with an unpredictable, abusive, and irresponsible handyman, and an incorruptible preteenager fights for the honor of a prostitute he hardly knows. Most unlikely of all, Ned and company con a con man, winning a thoroughbred. It's colorful, but it doesn't ring true.