A kind of second cousin twice removed from Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, FINDING STEVE McQUEEN is wickedly entertaining romp that pays out the adage truth can be stranger than fiction.

Set some eight years before Steve McQueen carked it, nevertheless, the king of cool does not make an appearance in FINDING STEVE McQUEEN.                          

Travis Fimmel, plays Harry Barber, a character that is besotted with Steve McQueen, who styles himself on the icon, with turtle necks and shades and fast cars, but not a Mustang.

Barber is part of a quartet of amateur criminals led by cousin Enzo who attempt to steal $30 million from President Richard Nixon’s secret stash of illegal campaign contributions.

Playing into his self-possessed image of Steve McQueen, Barber plays the wheel man, the getaway driver who steers like Bullit.

The heist is a semi success but the plan goes sideways, prompting one of the biggest manhunts in FBI history. Barber goes on the lam and meets up with a Faye Dunaway from Bonnie& Clyde tragic, played by Rachael Taylor, whose whole family just happens to be the local constabulary, just to complicate matters a little more.

Fimmel and Taylor make an attractive pair and the supporting cast is a treat.

The always wonderful William Fichtner is Enzo, a Tricky Dicky hater par excellence. He sees his filching of the corrupt President’s loot a moral obligation. His daffy crew is made up of Louis Lombardi and Rhys Coiro, and these bunch of bandits banter Tarantino like banalaties and bon mots throughout.

Forest Whitaker gives quirky cop performance as the FBI sleuth, Howard Lambert with quirk for quirk characterisation from Lily Rabe as his co-worker, Agent Price.

You may not find Steve McQuuen in FINDING STEVE McQUEEN but you will find a blindingly cheeky, superior B picture, a great escape for a lean and nifty ninety minutes.

Finding Steve McQueen  released on 4 SEPTEMBER 2019 on DIGITAL – DVD – BLU-RAY.