The Missouri Breaks
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Movie Reviews of The Missouri Breaks
Movie Review: Great classic Western
Summary: 5 Stars
This was an early Nicholson film, but you can see 5 Easy Pieces and Easy Rider in the west by watching it. Marlon Brando's plays a crazy regulator and you're holding your jaw that this could possibly be the same person who played the mob boss in The Godfather.
Great pic.
Movie Review: Best of an the era
Summary: 5 Stars
Cannot beat this little known weatern with Brando and Jack. What a lost treasure! Some truely great lines in this one and perfect Brando style. I have no doubt that both of these actors were just playing themselves. 5 Stars for these guys. What a great memory movie.Movie Review: OFFBEAT WESTERN A MUST FOR BRANDO AND NICHOLSON FANS
Summary: 4 Stars
Blasted by critics when it first came out in 76 but still a Western I have always enjoyed watching. Three reasons: an audaciously offbeat and disturbingly singular performance by Marlon Brando; an excellent one by Jack Nicholson; fantastic supports from vet pros Harry Dean Stanton and Randy Quaid. Don't expect gunfights, saloon brawls or O.K. Corral stuff here. This is a different type of Western---long, slowly and languishly paced but stark, realistic and callously brutal. All about a gang of horsethieves and the horse baron out to stop them. After the bunch murder his ramrod, the old boy decides to hire a "regulator" to eradicate them---seems there's nothing he hates more than a stinkin horse thief. A "regulator" is basically a hitman, or better, an exterminator. Brando plays regulator Robert E. Lee Clayton, an eccentric who is an artist at killing---with firearms, knives, fire, even water---and a sadist. He is a marksman [with both bow & bullets], a sniper and an arsonist. Clayton eliminates each member of the gang one by one by devious and clever means---engaging and studying his prey, utilizing disguise of speech and dress and planning their mode of expiration, often actuated at night or in the early morning hours when least expected. Clayton's corpulence, age, insouciance and whimsical demeanor certainly belie his acumen and virulence. This is what makes his character so much fun here. Nicholson plays Tom Logan, the leader of the rustlers. John McLiam is very good as land & horse baron David Braxton, a pompous but vindictive old dude who is just as perverse and evil as the guy he hires. Earthy Kathleen Lloyd is excellent as Braxton's isolated tomboyish daughter. After one of Logan's beloved boys is captured and hung under Braxton's orders he decides to get even by buying land from an unwitting Braxton and wooing his daughter. His plan is to infiltrate Braxton's stead while his boys rustle up everything he's got. Logan, however, starts to like the farming and like the female. Begins to enjoy life as an honest man a bit too much and becomes a trifle aloof from his boys who are beginning to get "regulated". Comes to his senses after close friends Cal and 'Little Tod' [Stanton and Quaid] are stalked and killed by Clayton. Logan now wants payback and goes after Clayton and Braxton. Knows he can't outdo a seasoned killer like Clayton so smartly uses latter's own statagem to get him. He cuts Clayton's throat while the latter lay asleep at dawn---a raw, harrowing scene. Ironically, it's old man Braxton who nearly caps Logan at the end. Film meanders a bit and could have used a little more editing and streamlining but overall a joy to watch hall-of-famers Brando and Nick. Directed by Arthur Penn with the same realism and authenticity and great output from his performers as in his classic BONNIE AND CLYDE, [1967]. A must for Brando & Nick fans.Movie Review: The Old West Wasn't Like A John Wayne Film, and Neither Is This Movie
Summary: 4 Stars
My family goes back to the 1880s in Montana, and my wife's to 1866. This may be rain on a few parades, but the old west wasn't like a John Wayne film, wasn't populated by Randolph Scott or Tom Selleck look-a-likes, and neither is this movie. People rode horses not because it was colorful, but because they had to. My grandfather grew up on a horse and had a fondness for them (as I do), but he was perfectly happy to buy a car when they became numerous enough to be affordable. No more haying, no more shoeing, wire cuts, or colic at midnight to deal with. A gun was a tool, not a fashion statement. Most gunfights were fueled by alcohol, a thirst for revenge, or pure stupidity. Gun duels in the street were rare or non-existent. Shooting was generally from cover, and in the back if possible. This was the safest course of action. Stetsons were to keep the sun and rain off, not to look "cool." "Chaps" was pronounced "Shaps," as in chaparral (not found in Montana), not with the "ch" of "church." Dudes talk like that, not cowboys. Bandanas were functional - when you move livestock, a lot of dust gets kicked up, and it wasn't any easier to breathe it in the old west than it is now.
So The Missouri Breaks seems offbeat. A lot of people and actual events in the west were, as they are now. The heros of the old west were the men and women who lived in shacks, endured snowdrifts and sub-zero weather, stifling summer heat, drought, prairie fires, wolf depredations, and insect swarms to ranch and farm, to make better lives for us, their grandchildren and great-grandchildren (unfortunately at the expense of the native people). The Missouri Breaks at least provides a taste of the grit Montana had back then. It was a tough life for a lot of people. Their perseverance was fueled by hope and optimism. Those who wanted to make a fast buck by rustling and robbery didn't last long. Vigilantism was an accepted practice for a short period of time.
What I recall about the making of this movie that still makes me chuckle, is that when the cast and crew flew into Billings and went on location to set up, Brando was two or three days late. People were chafing at the bit - time is money. One morning a mysterious rider appeared silhouetted on the skyline above. It was Brando on his own horse, with his own Creedmore, and in his own buckskins, in character. The director held his tongue when he rode up. Some of you may recall that Brando was with Sacheen Little Feather during this period of his life, so he took more than a passing interest in the west. He was allowed to put his own stamp on his character that wasn't in the script, and to me it's all the more interesting and colorful, like some of the oddballs who occupied our part of the world back in the day. They too wrote their own scripts. Give the film a chance. I think it's pretty good.
Movie Review: Unusual western for its time with some sharp performances, direction
Summary: 4 Stars
"The Missouri Breaks" was about twenty years ahead of its time. I remember really liking this film when I first saw it in 1976 and the film has aged remarkably well although the conclusion doesn't live up to the promise of this unconventional Arthur Penn ("Bonnie and Clyde", "Little Big Man", "Night Moves") western. Based on the novel by Thomas Mcguane ("Tom Horn")and scripted by McGuane and Robert Towne ("Chinatown", "Personal Best"), the literate script does indeed remind one of "Deadwood" (without as many obscenities)and other revisionist westerns. The pairing of Nicholson and Brando (along with strong support from Frederic Forest, Harry Dean Stanton, Randy Quaid, and the wonderful Kathleen Lloyd as the forthright love interest of Logan. For some people Marlon Brando's colorful over-the-top performance is a distraction for others a delight. It certainly is eccentric and adds color to the film.
The DVD transfer looks extremely good here with robust colors and the soundtrack sparkles even though it's presented in its original mono format. Another reviewer remarked on the PG version vs. the R rated version of the film lamenting the loss of some of the colorful dialogue. The PG version IS the R rated version of the film. I'm not sure if the reviewer is confused or not but this is exactly the same as the theatrical version of the film. There aren't two separate versions of the movie. Perhaps this film was re-rated and, like "Midnight Cowboy" standards have changed over time. This is exactly the version I saw in theaters (and on HBO when it aired) years ago. What was once an R is now a PG, etc. Sadly there aren't any extras except for the original theatrical trailer. Since Arthur Penn is (at this writing)alive it would have been nice to have a commentary track or, at the very least, a retrospective featurette on the impact of this marvelous film. It has clearly influenced other western films and TV shows since it was first released. A cult classic, "The Missouri Breaks" certainly has earned its reputation as an eccentric and off-beat western.
Horse thief Tom Logan (Jack Nicholson)is a marked man. Logan and his gang establish a ranch to quietly move stolen horses. When rancher David Braxton (John McLiam)learns about this he takes on the role of judge and jury he hiring Robert E. Lee Clayton (Marlon Brando)a bizarre assassin for hire to kill Logan and his band of rustlers.
The pacing of the film is a bit slower than more contemporary films (remember this was made in 1976 before the rapid fire editing style of "Star Wars" became more common place). The film, though, pays off in spades even if the conclusion of the movie doesn't quite live up to the promise of the film.