Review of Rio Bravo (1959) by Reid V — 19 Jun 2011
Just watched this for the first time. Wanted to watch the original True grit, but it wasnt streaming on Netflix so I settled for another of John Waynes pictures.
Ok, this is from 1959, so it looks old. Though, it doesn't look 1959 old. It looks 70s TV western old. Still, it looks quite dated and doesnt seem to have the nice large EPIC shots of wagons roaming and lone men marching across desserts. This movie does NOT feel epic in scope. It feels contained and a little cheap for that reason (although it suits the story fine.).
The basic story is that John wayne is the sheriff and he has a guy in jail who his gangleading brother or friend wants to bust out. Sherrif wayne needs to prevent a jailbreak for a few days until the county or state marshall comes to get the prisoner or something. This is a simple story, but the movie is quite long and the focus often shifts to Dean Martins (good actor for a singer, the justin timberlake of his time) character who is a recovering alcoholic deputy and John Waynes love interest.
My biggest problem with this western is that it didn't feel like a western. It felt like a romance set in the old west. The conflict with the prisoner and the gang was more like a problem for the developing relationship than a problem in and of itself. Lots of old time "romantic" lines like, "why'd you have to go and say a thing like that". But man Angie Dickinson is great in this. Definately my favorite character in this flick. SO while I liked the romance, I felt it detracted from the "westerness" of the picture.
Ive read that this film is supposed to be a reaction of sorts to High Noon, and maybe a greater understanding of that issue may lend some more weight to this picture, but it just feels so light. They even break into a ridiculous song in the jail cell (now I get that scene in The Three Amigos). All in all it was alright and maybe was GREAT back in 59. It just doesn't hold up like the great spaghetti westerns or other John wayne movies like The Searches and Stagecoach.
This review of Rio Bravo (1959) was written by Reid V on 19 Jun 2011.
Rio Bravo has generally received very positive reviews.
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