Review of Red River (2009) by Kevin N — 03 Feb 2009
I saw this literally right after seeing a 22-year-old Wayne in The Big Trail. He still wasn't even 40 in Red River, yet he did good playing Montgomery Clift's dad. Like The Big Trail, Red River is the story of a group of rough and tough dudes going on an epic trip that tests the limits of how much each of them can tolerate the roughness and toughness of the rest.
As it turns out, not very much. Montgomery Clift is Wayne's adopted son, and soon the two of them go their separate ways with Wayne swearing he'll find Monty someday and kill him. Howard Hawks was a newbie with Westerns, but this is one of the best at showing man's futile efforts to tame a landscape that was absolutely untameable.
The Indians couldn't tame it after thousands of years. They just made peace with it. How silly to think the whitees could do it better. Some have lambasted this film for an anti-climactic climax, but it seemed perfectly believeable to me.
If you can discern how much Wayne's character cares about his adopted son early on, the end won't disappoint. Wayne's character is a tough bastard, but he's not a sociopath. The beautiful photography is the perfect backdrop for showing how man vs.
earth becomes man vs. man when the earth remains indifferent. Good stuff!
This review of Red River (2009) was written by Kevin N on 03 Feb 2009.
Red River has generally received positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
