Review of Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973) by Thomas L — 01 Feb 2009

How did it take me so long to see this? At least I got to see it on the big screen at the Getty, though. That was a real treat, as was the film itself. I'm already a big fan of Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch, so I didn't have much doubt I'd like this.

But after immersing myself in so much Billy the Kid research during my high school years, I guess I still felt a twinge of Billy fatigue. No issue here. From the opening shot of Billy and his compadres playing target practice with live chickens, to the closing shot of a beleaguered Garrett riding off while being pelted with a rock by a toddler, I was hooked.

I saw this as part of a six-Western film series at the Getty, one per decade starting with the twenties. This was the last one. In this way the evolution of the Western is stark. By the time this was made, the Westerns of moral clarity with black hats and white hats were an antique.

Here Peckinpah uses the true story of Garrett and Billy to show that in the real West, morals were anything but clear, but were mostly in the eye of the judger. Oh, and money didn't hurt. I was also impressed with how they worked in actual quotes that people said at the time.

Peckinpah obviously did his research. Nor did fitting them into the story seem forced at all. I do question why Bob Dylan had to play some fantasy character named Alias. Was that just to draw Bob Dylan fans? We don't need his character to know how easily people switched sides of the law.

It seemed forced. If not for him, I'd've given this five stars. Although I loved his songs. Anyway, this was a brilliant depication of two people heading down opposite paths. You've got Billy, who is the way he is whether people deputize him for it or not.

And then you've got Pat, who looks much older than he is because he's practically being eaten alive from the inside by his guilt and his futile attempts to be someone he could never hope to be.