Thursday, September 08, 2005
The Outlaw Josey Wales - Movie Review
I've gotten more than a few movies from the 1970's and early 1980's from Netflix recently, and many of them, despite receiving critical acclaim when they were released, don't seem to have aged well. For example, I was fairly disappointed with The Deer Hunter, mostly hated Apocalypse Now, completely hated A Clockwork Orange, and thought that The Delta Force, which I remember being intrigued by as a kid, was horrible (it was also difficult to watch post 9-11, but obviously I can't blame Chuck for that). On the other hand, I recently watched Star Wars (the original one) again with my kids, and I loved it.
So, it was with some trepidation that I got The Outlaw Josey Wales, a Clint Eastwood western. I was actually pleasantly surprised. The acting was solid, the story engaging. The bloody conflict between Missouri and Kansas, seemingly far removed from slavery, is a sad but interesting part of the whole Civil War. It was also addressed in more detail by Ang Lee in Ride With the Devil. This isn't as serious a movie, but it's exciting to watch the course of Wales' life through the war and his attempts to deal with what came after. It also has all of that great western stuff I love - tough guys, horses, wise Indians, beautiful scenery, dusty towns.
My one issue with the movie was that Wales is depicted as a superman, almost always impossible to hurt. Sometimes this was because he was clever in the way he approached conflict, which was neat; other times, it was because the guys fighting him just missed him, over and over, which is kind of unsatisfying. It's always a little disappointing when the bad guys lose just because they're bad shots - you want the hero to win because he or she is smart, not lucky.
I enjoyed the movie a lot, though, and would recommend it.
So, it was with some trepidation that I got The Outlaw Josey Wales, a Clint Eastwood western. I was actually pleasantly surprised. The acting was solid, the story engaging. The bloody conflict between Missouri and Kansas, seemingly far removed from slavery, is a sad but interesting part of the whole Civil War. It was also addressed in more detail by Ang Lee in Ride With the Devil. This isn't as serious a movie, but it's exciting to watch the course of Wales' life through the war and his attempts to deal with what came after. It also has all of that great western stuff I love - tough guys, horses, wise Indians, beautiful scenery, dusty towns.
My one issue with the movie was that Wales is depicted as a superman, almost always impossible to hurt. Sometimes this was because he was clever in the way he approached conflict, which was neat; other times, it was because the guys fighting him just missed him, over and over, which is kind of unsatisfying. It's always a little disappointing when the bad guys lose just because they're bad shots - you want the hero to win because he or she is smart, not lucky.
I enjoyed the movie a lot, though, and would recommend it.
