1973
Directed by Sam Peckinpah
Sam Peckinpah is back to disturb us once more. Hey, at least we made it further into the movie this time before we had to witness the first rape. Well, not much further.
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid are old friends, but they have ended up on the opposite sides of the law. Garrett chases Billy the Kid around the West for the entire movie. The film is punctuated by cameos, some of them good (Slim Pickens), some of them not so good (what the hell was Bob Dylan doing there?).
Apparently, there was a battle between Peckinpah and the studio in post production. The studio ended up cutting a portion of the film, so it has practically been disowned by the cast and crew. Personally, I am on the studio's side, partly because I still hold a grudge about Straw Dogs, and partly because I am sure if Peckinpah had his way his films would go on for several days. Still, there is no denying that the end product is rather choppy.
I found the whole film to be rather unoriginal. I suppose it is in the Book because of Bob Dylan's score, but having never been a huge Dylan fan, that's not a big draw for me. Easily skippable.
RATING: **---
Interesting Facts:
There were rumors that Sam Peckinpah was barely able to work due to his alcoholism. He also apparently peed on the screen when shown the studio's cut of the film. Gotta love that Peckinpah.
Kris Kristofferson was playing a 21 year old at 36. This film is a trainwreck.
Yeah, what exactly was the function of Dylan's character? It made no sense at all. I kept waiting for him to do something that would validate his keeping popping up in do many scenes but it never happened.
ReplyDelete