Rating of
2/4
Pretty good Western, but not great
The M.O.W. - wrote on 05/08/10
A group of outlaws, lead by "Tom Logan" (Jack Nicholson), settles into a Missouri ranch to hideout from the law. However, a powerful rancher hires a man (Marlon Brando) to run them out.
The "regulator" (Brando) wipes out the entire band of outlaws, but "Tom," who decides to go straight in his pursuit of a local woman (Kathleen Lloyd).
Now, the two are heading to a face-off that may be each other's last day on Earth.
This is not the best movie I've seen. In fact, I noticed myself looking away from my computer screen (I watched it on Hulu) many times.
I found the characters poorly written, although they were pretty well performed by the actors. They were all pretty one-dimensional, and they just didn't seem to connect with each other.
The relationships between the characters just didn't work. I could not feel anything in the romantic subplot at all. In fact, I couldn't feel any chemistry between Nicholson and Lloyd at all.
There was a little chemistry between Nicholson and Brando. But, because of the poor writing, they really had little to work with for their on-screen relationship.
Surprisingly, the gunplay was minimal. Even when you expected a good amount of shooting, it wasn't there. There is some violence, though it's fairly mild. In the first minute of the movie, there is a fairly graphic hanging that was probably placed that early in the film for shock value.
The scenery was used pretty well in this movie. It certainly wasn't overplayed. There were some scenes where the scenery was used quite well with camera angles and such.
John Williams did, in my opinion, a poor job in writing the music for this film. To me, the music was more modern instrumental work, and just didn't work. In fact, despite being composed by a Hollywood legend like Williams, the soundtrack is completely forgettable.
Wardrobe appeared to be authentic in this film, except the outfit Brando wore through much of the film. His outfit was a little over-the-top, but not too much to be distracting.
I would have to say that if you find it online on sites like Hulu, check it out if you have nothing better to do. Other than that, don't waste your money.
