Review of The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) by Bob I — 27 Sep 2008
Eastwood has helmed a couple classic westerns, and this movie stands near the top. Not only does this movie have a clear sense of direction, its themes about war and peace are very different for the usually macho western genre.
Josey Wales isn't like Blondie or Eastwood's other relatively ambiguous western characters: he is a character with a true sense of purpose. Eastwood plays a part here he does so well: the steady rock that all the other enigmatic characters revolve around. This movie does hard to unwork the portrayal of Indians in Westerns, and for that it should be applauded tremendously.
The movie has two glaring flaws in my mind: One, the revenge plot involving the Red Legs feels almost superfluous at times, and almost works against the movies narrative structure. This could have been integrated a bit more thoughtfully. Also, a Morricone-caliber score would have boosted this movie tremendously. There's more than one scene where I wished a musical swell would come in, only to be disappointed.
All that aside, this is a classic western, and the first of Eastwood's many A-quality works.
This review of The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) was written by Bob I on 27 Sep 2008.
The Outlaw Josey Wales has generally received very positive reviews.
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