Review of Goin' South (1978) by Evan S — 09 Apr 2009

Some very good ideas in this western. Some extremely good situations. Some good suspended situations too. And yet we regret Nicholson is directing himself. He can't see himself when he is acting and that shows tremendously in the film.

It explains some slow and long sequences that should have been packed in the acting itself. That explains why the actor Jack Nicholson is too often using some faces and attitudes and gestures that we have already seen in The Shining, in The Witches of Eastwood, or in many other films. He cannot see himself and thus he cannot direct himself properly. And there were and are some extremely potential situations. There could have been, and there should have bee.