As the show-stopping driving sequences demonstrate, there is a level of slickness that prevents the filmmaking from being amateurish.
Sorcerer tracks four separate criminals on the run from the law who conjoin in a small South American town and are offered $10,000 and legal citizenship if they transport a shipment of dangerously unstable nitroglycerin to an oil well 200 miles away. Friedkin maintains a thrilling momentum to the narrative even when the action and dramatic tension stall. The run-and-gun, handheld cinematography made famous from The French Connection is alive and well in this film. As the show-stopping driving sequences demonstrate, there is a level of slickness that prevents the filmmaking from being amateurish. Although viewers are purposefully restricted from learning much about the four main characters, Friedkin brings enough pathos to them that makes the already weighty stakes of the story feel overwhelming.