Review of Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973) by Nate W — 21 Oct 2009

"Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid" is one of Peckinpah's better Westerns. It bears all the director's trademarks stamps, including his use of zooms, slow-motion, grisly violence, and his slightly odd musical choices (in this case, original songs by Bob Dylan).

James Coburn is terrific as Garrett, a former outlaw whose transfer to the side of law and order marks the beginning of a greater degradation of ethics than if he had remained criminal. Peckinpah Westerns are often unhappy to watch, dismissing the romantic imagery and values upheld by more conventional entries to the genre, but if you've acquired a taste for the man's work, it's hard to do better than "Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid".