Review of Comes a Horseman (1978) by Daniel R — 19 Sep 2014

Comes a Horseman succeeds because it's a western not about the west, but about the people coming to terms with the changing western civilisation in a strongly character driven story.

It achieves this through its western medium of storytelling, which allows it to mirror the western style through use of stylish atmosphere as created by the excellent scaled cinematography and fine editing, with the addition of a wonderful musical score. Visually, Comes a Horseman is excellent for these purposes amongst others.

The others are the wonderful locations Comes a Horseman is filmed on which are rich with colour in a sepia manner, making it bright and yet dull to reflect the life of the world the characters live in as well as the underdevelopment of the society in comparison to more city-based social norms. It's a cleverly stylish tale, and somewhat symbolic in the right manner, and so Comes a Horseman is easy to remember as being a beautifully shot film and one of the memorable westerns that tackles ranch life of a real cowboy or cowgirl, as opposed to a tale relating to the basis of the myth of who the cowboy really is and what he represents. Comes a Horseman brings the spirit of the cowboy back and gives the values to a female character played by Jane Fonda who has no issue understanding and conveying them throughout this western dramatic.

Neither does James Caan who without fear manages to step into the role of Frank "Buck" Athearn and matches Jane Fonda's screen presence without overshadowing her, making them a good dual role for the screen with fine chemistry. They are a strong duo of cowboys, even with Jane Fonda being a female. Maybe it takes an understanding of what a cowboy actually is to appreciate it and understand what I mean, but that's what makes Comes a Horseman a western worth seeing.

Richard Farnsworth flawlessly steps up from a career of being nothing but an extra or an uncredited stuntman into the important role of an actor, and he takes the opportunity by storm to show off all that he has had brewing inside him for so many years as his passion for acting has clearly burned. He is an absolute natural as an actor, and he stands out in screen even against the two time Academy Award winners Jason Robards and Jane Fonda who actually won her second Oscar that year, as well as nominee James Caan. Richard Farnsworth just supplies a certain sense of friendliness and wisdom to his role, and he's just great. His Academy Award nomination is well deserved.

And as usual, Jason Robards is a great villain through his ability to manipulate words.

So although it's a slow paced story and is more of a character driven western than one focused on shootouts and horse chases, Alan J. Pakula's fine direction, great performances and beautiful scenery make Comes a Horseman a memorable film.