Synopsis: Young rustlers against old style rancher in modern day Western
Director: Frank Perry
Actors: Jeff Bridges, Sam Waterston, Slim Pickens, Elizabeth Ashley, Harry Dean Stanton
Date: 1975
How viewed: Lovefilm rental
Rating: 3/5
David Meyer says:
The truest, funniest tale of the modern West ever told. It's a longtime cult favourite, the kind of witty, well-written evocative picture that would never get produced today.
I say:
What a disappointment! Billed by one critic as 'an often hilarious look at how the vast societal upheaval of the 60's and the creeping industrialisation which began at the turn of the century were changing the face of the 'old west', this falls between 2 (or more) stools. It could have been another Blazing Saddles (which surprisingly came out the year before, one might have guessed it would have been the other way around), or it could have been a more serious look at the way modern technology changed the face of ranching I can't decide whether the script is good and the direction is poor, or the direction is good and the script is poor, but it just seemed like a missed opportunity. Nevertheless there are some good one-liners, and I like the way none of the characters are not what they seem (e.g. the ranchers previously owned a beauty parlour) and the likes of Jeff Bridges, Harry Dean Stanton, and Slim Pickens (who I have to admit is great!), are always worth watching, but the story is more 'Dukes of Hazard' than anything else. Ho hum... 
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