Review of Rio Bravo (1959) by Masorad ( — 11 May 2010

I've never seen a John Wayne movie before, and I never was that interested in watching one to be honest. I watched Rio Bravo more because of Howard Hawks, who is one of my favorite old-school directors, and ended up really enjoying myself.

Rio Bravo is easily the best 'classic Hollywood' western I've ever seen. I still slightly prefer the grittiness of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly or McCabe and Mrs Miller, but Rio Bravo is an entertaining, lovable western complete with clear-cut good and bad guys.

The plot is smart and suspenseful, peppered with some memorable shootouts, but the true appeal of Rio Bravo is the characters. They're deeply likable in general, and the movie's leisurely, down-to-earth pacing lets them just hang out plenty, with witty dialogue and one warm scene where they all sing together.

So while Rio Bravo might not be the most overwhelmingly impressive movie ever made, it's so likable, cozy and (at times) suspenseful that I easily fell in love with it.