Starring: Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman
Director: Clint Eastwood
I pretty much loathe Clint Eastwood. But I needed a final western film and I've heard that this is the quintessential western that tops them all. Well, sadly, this is a very boring and dull take, in my opinion. Of which I will admit I have a limited scope on this genre. I guess I need my westerns to be big and epic and this movie just didn't fit the bill.
Clint Eastwood plays an old man, William Munny, a retired outlaw who takes one last job so he can get some decent money. He meets up with his old partner Ned Logan (Freeman) and a smart ass punk kid who don't know no better to take out a couple of thugs who beat up some whores. Seriously, it's such a rehashed plot of most other westerns - an old man doing one last job (rolling eyes - The Wild Bunch, The Searchers, True Grit, the list goes on...). But to be honest, I didn't really care for Munny all that much. He just seemed so ordinary. He kind of drags himself along in every scene and seems to be much of a drama queen. Eastwood made him out to be some man with the weight of the world on his shoulders, but seriously, he's just a pig farmer now who killed some men a looong time ago. Jesus C. it was so melodramatic! And of course, we see Eastwood's disdain for the younger generation who ain't go no respect with the kid that wants to be an outlaw and kill, kill, kill.
I heard that Eastwood wanted to make a western that didn't idealize killing and outlaws, but instead make a more realistic western in which death is cruel and swift. But I'll tell you what, the movie is too unrealistic. First of all, he leaves his kids and his farm - the only two things he cares about - to get a few hundred bucks that might last him for another couple of years? And, SPOILER alert, he dispatches with all these lawmen and jerky boys all by his lonesome in the end? And doesn't end up with one scratch?
As you can tell, I was rolling my eyes throughout the movie. I especially got mad when I read more about the movie afterward and what Eastwood was trying to do. This movie is full of cliches and idealism that I don't think it's realistic at all. It's the complete opposite and I say leave this one alone!
Rating: Avoid Like the Plague!
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