Comes a Horseman
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Movie Reviews of Comes a Horseman
Movie Review: A really good movie
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie has characters so well portayed that you lose yourself in them. The first time I saw it, I did not realize Jane Fonda was in it. Mark Harmon as Frank's partner is another actor I did not recognize. James Caan as the cowboy was excellent. Richard Farnsworth playing the old cowboy was completely believable. The villian played by Jason Robards was as hated a character as I have ever seen. This movie was absorbing and entertaining. I recommend it highly.Movie Review: Dark and hauting western.very underated
Summary: 5 Stars
This is another fine example of a very underated film release during late 70s ,starring the legendary James Caan , the always superb Jane Fonda and jason Robard in a truly great villian role.They dont make this kind of film anymore.Buy the DVD and judge yourself.Dont expect to see a slam bang action western,there is a fist fight and gun fight but fast and stylishly done by the director.A cinematic masterpieceMovie Review: Dark and hauting western.very underated
Summary: 5 Stars
This is another fine example of a very underated film release during late 70s ,starring the legendary James Caan , the always superb Jane Fonda and jason Robard in a truly great villian role.They dont make this kind of film anymore.Buy the DVD and judge yourself.Dont expect to see a slam bang action western,there is a fist fight and gun fight but fast and stylishly done by the director.A cinematic masterpieceMovie Review: Western Classic
Summary: 5 Stars
Great movie with a good look at some actors when they were beginning. James Caan, Mark Harmon and Jane Fonda. If you enjoy a good western you need to pick this one up.Movie Review: Relentless Glory of Ranch Life
Summary: 4 Stars
"Comes a Horseman," an ambling, leisurely paced western that quietly debuted in 1978, has never received much acclaim. Perhaps a film loaded with so many extraordinary talents should have soared to great heights. Most contemporary critics were bored. The film was released during a furious moment in United Artists' history when they were juggling Apocalypse Now, Manhattan and Raging Bull, and it simply fell through the cracks. Stephen Bach was not especially kind in his expose novel Final Cut : Art, Money, and Ego in the Making of Heaven's Gate, the Film That Sank United Artists, which detailed the famous Heaven's Gate disaster. He describes previews of "Comes a Horseman" as being failures and details his frustration at bankrolling what he considered to be a mediocre film.
Perhaps. I first saw "Comes a Horseman" at the theater the week it opened and have never forgotten it. I was touched by its gregarious nature and winsome style. There's a salt-of-the-earth quality here, perfectly symbolized by the star-making performance of Richard Farnsworth as an old-time cowhand limping towards his final days. Alan J. Pakula, a brilliant director known for his fascinating suspense thrillers Klute, The Parallax View and All the President's Men, oddly took on this project. I believe most directors dream of making westerns, having been raised on the epic works of John Ford, Howard Hawks and George Stevens. Pakula tried on this hat with great earnest and created a film that realistically portrays the rigors of ranch life. There's authenticity in every scene and, in many ways, it uniquely documents a closing era of the western legend.
Buck Athearn (James Caan) is a returning WW II veteran who purchases some land to start a ranch. The locale is never mentioned though, while beautifully filmed in Colorado by the legendary Gordon Willis, it could easily be Wyoming or Montana. Asleep next to a campfire, he is attacked and left for dead by men working for local ranch king J.W. Ewing (Jason Robards). Over a period of several weeks, Buck is nursed back to health by Ella Connors (Jane Fonda), a neighboring ranch owner immersed in a bitter land war with J.W. Ella, a prickly tomboy carrying the scars of a tough childhood, has a lone ranch hand in Dodger (Farnsworth) and, against frightful odds, they are trying to stay afloat. After a talk with Dodger, Buck decides to work for Ella.
Caan is perfect as Buck, a no-nonsense loner who must have been a fearless soldier. This was near the peak of Caan's career and his stoic presence is a fascinating accompaniment to Fonda's. As Ella, Fonda is an uncomfortably stubborn woman with rage bubbling beneath the surface. Caan and Fonda have a classic scene together, when they quietly read at a table while eating dinner, that is a subtle testament to their great talents. Farnsworth, who was nominated for an Academy Award, is unforgettable as Dodger. He's an old-time cowhand (who appears to be the only extrovert in the valley) with memories of long-ago drives and bones that crack each time he mounts a saddle. Robards has the difficult role of J.W., a weathered monument who sees the days of his ancestor's myth closing fast. In addition to his feud with Ella (there's a secret between them), his irritating business associate is interested in the newfangled idea of drilling for oil. J.W., of course, considers this a rank abomination.
All of these familiar dramas, including Buck and Ella's growing attraction, play out languidly. Viewers, however, are treated to extraordinary images of the relentless glory of ranch life - swirling dust, matted sweat and the blue smoke of branding iron fires. There's also an amazing shot of actual lightning on the horizon, something I had never before seen in a movie. When I first saw this at the theater, it took my breath away. Sadly, it doesn't play as well on TV, but no matter. It's real.
I could have done without the concluding dramatics, when J.W. and his elderly hands (an intentional choice by Pakula, I'm sure) ride upon Buck and Ella with rifles blazing. It's an old-time gunfight, akin to Sam Peckinpah's finale in Ride the High Country, that serves more as a tribute to the western than anything that would have realistically played out. I love the final long shot, returning the film to its gentle track, when Buck and Ella slowly begin to unload wood from the back of their 1930's-era truck. They are rebuilding their lives, and we realize how much we care about these characters, wondering if their children are still working the land to this day.