Review of The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) by Cameron J — 14 Jun 2014

Oh, hush, I know that you can't help but think of this title in the place of the chorus to "Jesse's Girl" either, but I'm still not going to tell Clint Eastwood that, for no one parodied Clint Eastwood but Clint Eastwood. Well, I wouldn't really call this a parody, but that poster of Josey Wales looking super-intense, with two guns, is so stereotypical awesome Clint Eastwood that it just has to be satirical. You know, I would have trouble taking a guy named Josey Wales seriously if he wasn't played by Clint Eastwood, but the irony doesn't end there, because after years of building his persona as the "man with no name", Eastwood doesn't simply give his role a name, but actually puts that name in the title. Well, Forrest Carter technically did that when he wrote the novel, but still, there's no more fun to trying to trying to figure out if this Eastwood wanderer is just your garden-variety bad brother or, well, Satan. I'm still kind of weirded out after "High Plains Drifter", and this film really doesn't help, because I don't know if I'm more tripped up by the fact this film co-stars an actual Redskin chief, or the fact that the chief in question was named Chief [u]Dan George[/u]... and was Canadian. Notice how I was trying to tap dance around calling George a Native "American" about as much as I was trying to tap dance calling him an Asian-I mean, Indian, because that Redskin was so red that he must have been tight with the Canucka-Nucka tribe (Needless to say, I don't avoid calling Redskins Indians for the sake of political correctness), and was tight with Clint Eastwood, who really does look so intense in that poster I mentioned earlier that I'm expecting his face to turn redder than George's. It seems as though I'm most tapdancing around actually talking about this film, kind of like the film itself, for no matter how much this drama rewards, it kind of outstays its welcome.

Though certainly pretty thoroughly layered in its basic narrative concept, this film, running about 135 minutes, is a little too long, dragged out by some excesses in material, if not inconsequential filler, to the point of stiffening pacing, especially when backed by a directorial handling that isn't even as colorful as it probably should be. Even though the film is distinctly less atmospheric than something of the nature of "High Plains Drifter", when Clint Eastwood's direction really quiets down, it dries up, rarely as boring, but frequently as bland and distancing, partly because of the dragging. About as big of an issue deriving from the dragging is focal unevenness, because when I say that this narrative is layered, I mean that it boasts more than a few distinct segments, with varying characters and conflicts, if not themes, and considering all of the flimsy pacing, when the narrative shifts, it jars, more and more, until the final product ends up feeling pretty episodic. The focus of storytelling is just so difficult to get a grip on, thus, the final product gets to be pretty aimless in its being so inconsistent and overdrawn, which makes it kind of hard to ignore the natural shortcomings, very limited though they may be. This is a meaty story, enough so for the final product to be more-or-less easily rewarding, but it is more talk than action, and even only so much attention to major dramatic weight, and it doesn't even handle its subject matter as uniquely as it could have, resulting in conventions that in turn result in some predictability. Really, there isn't much to gripe about, and by that, I mean that neither the quantity nor the severity of storytelling missteps are all that glaring, but make no mistake, they do stand, and collectively, they do some serious damage to the momentum of the final product. The film could very well have sputtered out shy of rewarding, and yet, through all the missteps is many more strengths, whether they be in storytelling, or in aesthetics.

There's not really all that much to Bruce Surtees' cinematography, but that classic, subtly gritty revisionist western visual style is both ruggedly handsome by its own right, and complimentary to art direction that, for all its surprising sparseness, sells the time, and is subtly dynamic enough to sell something of a sense of adventure. It is indeed the scope of this western which gives the narrative so much meat, through all the idle chit-chat and dramatic shortcomings, but that's not to say that depth is especially lacking, also playing a big role in crafting an intriguing narrative that still has to be done a great deal of justice if this interpretation is to truly reward. Well, sure enough, even a script by source novel author Forrest Carter, in spite of its excesses, delivers, on often sharp dialogue, if not some clever comic relief, and, of course, on memorable characterization that is largely sold by some charming performances. Well, I say, "some", but most everyone charms, to some degree or another, and that's mighty impressive, although there are relative standouts, say, Chief Dan George, who is particularly charismatic in his portrayal of a smooth-spoken and intelligent, but still rather colorful modern Cherokee, and further charms through sparkling chemistry with leading man Clint Eastwood, who retains his classic quiet charisma, yet incorporates more depth, if not emotional flare to the "man with no name" type of role, in order to craft a pretty sympathetic lead. Eastwood is mostly playing the same-old-same-old, and when he's not doing that, he is still endearing, and yet, his blazing charisma cannot quiet drive the character study as compelling on its own, without some endearing input from, well, himself. Eastwood was a major figure in the innovation of edgier revisionist western storytelling, with this film being a major breakthrough for revisionist westerns, and while Eastwood's thoughtfulness is all too often dulling in its dryness, when direction finds material, both stylistic and dramatic, it entertains just fine, and compels thoroughly. Needless to say, there's plenty of material for Eastwood to work with, because no matter how messy this film gets to be with its missteps, if not its overambitions, it is never short on intrigue, of which there is enough to make this pseudo-adventurous drama a genuinely effective endeavor.

Bottom line, there's something kind of draggy about storytelling here, and something definitely limp to bland dry spells in direction, and to glaring, often aimless issues in focal consistency, backed by a story of limited consequence and uniqueness, threaten the final product, whose reward value is still adequately sustained, by the decent visual style, sharp writing, charismatic acting and thoughtful direction that make "The Outlaw Josey Wales" a rewarding breakthrough for revisionist filmmaking, and highlight in Clint Eastwood's career as a dramatic filmmaker.

3/5 - Good.