Review of The Westerner (1940) by Dustin J — 05 May 2009

This Wyler western is sadly overlooked, (though it's more of a character study than a western IMHO). The chemistry between Walter Brennan and Gary Cooper is beyond words, and the subject matter seems to be quite ahead of its time.

A few cons, though...I didn't like the final scene at the end, and a lot of the annoying habits William Wyler showed during Ben-Hur made appearences here (a major one being long, drawn out romantic scenes). Judge Roy Bean's character is also so well-portrayed I found almost all of the other characters boring in comparison.

EDIT: OK, I have to mention this. During one of the romantic scenes in the middle of the film, I thought to myself "Jesus, this is taking almost as long as the one that I fell asleep during in Ben-Hur." I found out as the film ended that it was the same director. At least this movie wasn't three weeks long...