Review of The Wild Bunch (1969) by Cameron J — 10 Jun 2014

"Well, I am just out of school, I am real, real cool, I got the jump, got the jive, got the message; I'm alive; I'm a wild bunch!" Speaking of stuff about as old as that Jerry Lee Lewis song, this is indeed one wild bunch of old coots, or at least that's just Ernest Borgnine. Well, I don't reckon he's that old-looking in this film, but he hasn't ever been truly young, I don't think, and I wouldn't be surprised if he was part of the actual Wild Bunch. Oh wait, I'm sorry, the Wild Bunch never actually existed, it's just that after two-and-a-half hours, I'm ready to believe anything. Actually, I joke, seeing as how this came out the same year as "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", but this film really isn't that slow, to be so long, although a lot of the entertainment value might derive from all of the swearing and brutal violence. Man, this is pretty hardcore for 1969, but hey, that's Sam Peckinpah for you, as he wasn't really one to mess around when it came to giving Hollywood censors the big middle finger that they opposed futily. Well, at least the man knew how to make a good film along the way, although you have more than just the disturbing the content to get used to if you want to be compelled.

With all of my ramblings about the disturbing content of this film, on more than a few occasions, the drama actually slips into almost cheesy '60s safeness, and certainly has trouble overcoming other now-dated filmmaking aspects, thus, when the then-innovative and still-heavy notes in storytelling come into play, they clash with the traditional touches and mess with a sense of intensity and urgency, at least until tension return to beat you over the head. Many might be excited about this film's being edgier than the usual western of its time, but quite frankly, Sam Peckinpah tends to go overboard in his often annoyingly noisy portrayal of harsh violence and other disturbing imagery, whose subtlety issues prove detrimental to the heart of this gritty drama. If nothing else, all of this grime stresses anti-heroic themes to the point of distancing you from intentionally questionable protagonists, and when compensation is attempted, it typically comes in the form of manufactured melodramatics that would be easier to forgive if they weren't so familiar. The film works so hard to be revisionist in so many ways, only to slip at times into tropes, which are harder to ignore, due to their clashing with unique elements that can't quite overshadow a certain predictability, which grows all the clearer the more the film takes its sweet times to reach expected places. Well, actually, all of the dragging makes it harder to get a grip on the focus of the narrative, as there may be a few too many layers for comfort to this plot, which gets to be aimless, maybe even a little focally inconsistent in its struggles to unravel plot points whose excessiveness actually grows harder to deny the more the film succumbs to the aforementioned other shortcomings. There's a lot of potential here, and for the most part, it's pretty well-fulfilled, but when inspiration, say, in the grit, subtlety, originality and tight structuring lapses, the final product comes tumbling shy of what it could have been. What it ultimately is, however, is a plenty rewarding drama, with plenty of guts, and plenty of style.

Like the film itself, Jerry Fielding's surprisingly dynamic score has its share of formulaic elements which go punctuated by genuinely refreshing attributes that anchor much of the final product's entertainment value by being about as sweeping as production value which the art direction by Edward Carrere brings to life with an extensive restoration of Texas and Mexico in 1913, and which other technical departments compliment with solid special effects. The film is pretty technically proficient, and therefore stylistically sharp, and such sharp style does a lot to drive the entertainment value of the narrative, yet can't solely drive the engagement value of this drama. Though a little histrionic, Walon Green's and Roy N. Sickner's story concept for this film is not only fun and weighty as a study on anti-heroes' dynamic, colorful and dramatically rich adventures, but powered by intriguing themes on the harsh nature of man, and on the thin lines between hero and outlaw, and it is done particularly respectable justice by a script by Green and Sam Peckinpah that generally takes an intelligently subtle approach to the themes of the film, broken up by an audacious, if gratuitous attention to harsh set pieces and dialogue, as well well-rounded, if questionable characterization. As I said earlier, these characters can be crude, but by no means are any of them crudely drawn, as each one is distinguished and layered, as well as brought to life by some charismatic performances. Well, at least the lead characters are well-rounded, as well as charismatically well-portrayed, for although there are good performances throughout the film, William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, and all of the other portrayers of the titular "Wild Bunch" deliver on their own charm, in addition to electric chemistry that does a lot to grace the adventure opus with a fun feel that wouldn't be their to compliment if it wasn't for Peckinpah's efforts, at least as director. Peckinpah has his flaws, sure, but as director, he consistently hits with style which thrives on the aforementioned technically sharp visuals, and snappy editing, particularly during tense, often grand, and frequently outstanding action, and when the action abates, momentum continue to flow smoothly enough to sustain consistent entertainment value. Peckinpah's vision stands to be tighter, but it's never less than worthy, carrying enough entertainment value dramatic value to drive an intriguing and large-scale plot as plenty compelling.

When the run is done, some inconsistencies and some overbearingness with edgy content challenge momentum, though not as much as the conventions and dragging which are themselves challenged by the solid scoring and production value, worthy story concept, smart writing, charismatic performances, and effective direction that make Sam Peckinpah's "The Wild Bunch" a rewardingly entertaining and gripping change of pace for western filmmaking.

3/5 - Good.