Will Penny
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Movie Reviews of Will Penny
Movie Review: Adequate oater
Summary: 3 Stars
What can one say about the west, a cowboy facing obstacles, a lady looking for just such a man and bloody action bringing the two together? Typical oater fare, but nonetheless a pleasant way to put aside for a brief time real life obstacles and bloody action. The conclusion was unexpected, which raised this movie from a 1 up to a 3.Movie Review: Worth Every Penny
Summary: 3 Stars
Chuck in fine form as a crusty sodbuster but a bit dour throughout. Earnest performances help carry it along but it's not quite entertainment, is it ? I don't think I can recommend buying it but should prove a worthwhile curiosity as a Wednesday night rental.Movie Review: another casuality for "realism"
Summary: 2 Stars
The big claim made for this movie is that it is realistic. That is the usual claim made for movies that have little else going for them. The definition of "realistic" relied on for such movies is: boring, dirty, and ends unhappily. (That there are other aspects of reality does not seem to occur to them.) So, all right, I give the movie a star for realism. I can't give it a star for "gripping" because it isn't. I can't give it a star for "moving" because it isn't. I can't give it stars for photography, music or acting because these are adequate but not outstanding.
Even the "realistic" claim won't stand scrutiny. Are we supposed to believe that a seriously wounded man could walk through snow with no clothes on all the way back to the cabin? Are we supposed to believe that these three stereotypical villains would wait two days for the lady to make up her mind? Nonsense! They'd rape her then and there. Are we to believe that a real down-and-dirty cowpoke would turn down a beautiful woman? This isn't realism. This is chivalry! This is a Romantic Hero! And of course, the biggest cliche of all: the cavalry riding to the rescue at precisely the right moment--only in this case it is Will's two friends who have ridden for days and just happen to show up at the precise second that he needs them!
The only reason to watch this film is to study it in contrast to Shane. After all, the movie strains to be another Shane. Why isn't it? Why is Shane all of the above and more and this movie isn't? Why do the characters in Shane stick in your mind the rest of your life and you can't remember most of the characters in this movie the next day and none of them the next year?
Movie Review: Director Asleep at the wheel
Summary: 2 Stars
Will Penny is an illiterate, over-the-hill cowboy coming to terms with his bleak future. After a long trail drive, he goes to work at the Flatiron ranch, in the lonely job of riding line. He finds a women and her son, abandoned by their guide to California, holding up at his shack. His standing orders are to drive off all nesters, but he allows them to stay on two weeks. His kindness is rewarded when he is set upon and left to die by a family of "rawhiders." The lady nurses him back to health. By the time the rawhiders return Penny and the lady are quite close. Nevertheless, Penny realizes he could not adapt to another way of life and rides off into the sunset.As a long-time fan of Westerns and Charleston Heston, I was disappointed by this film. The plodding script calls for a Jimmy Stewart in the lead role. Perhaps Stewart could have brought it alive. Unfortunately, Charleton Heston got the part. He is not convincing as a sad, sensitive-but-strong hero. Joan Hackett is good as the stranded lady. Bruce Dern is good in his too abbreviated role. Donald Pleasance, however, is over the top. Another case of miscasting.
The best part of the film is the beautiful Western scenery. But, that cannot make up for a dull, illogical script, bad casting and an annoying music tract. Watching the film, I got the feeling that I was paying more attention to it than had the director and script-writer. How could anyone not notice that after Charlton Heston has his undies stolen by the rawhiders, he is again dressed in his shirt and pants back at the shack? This is only one of the distracting goofs that I tried to ignore in my attempts to like this film.
Movie Review: DIsappointed
Summary: 2 Stars
After reading other reviews I bought this DVD. I'm not a Charlton Heston fan, but I do like vintage westerns. I suppose the story this movie is based on is a decent one. Parts of the movie show that a cowboy's life can be dirty and smelly (ain't no showers behind the bushes).
Unfortunately, the main actors in this movie don't do it justice. There is NO chemistry between Mr. Heston and his co-star, Ms. Hackett.
I would like to correct a few plot points which other reviewers have repeated: the main character, Will Penny, is NOT "staked out" in the desert. He is beaten and stabbed; his gear is taken from him and he is left to die. The woman does not "find" him, she is already installed in Will's cabin which Will Penny manages to stumble to after an unknown time in the wilderness.
Will's character is drawn to the woman and uncomfortable at the same time while the female is somehow drawn to him. The actors TRY to portray this in very cramped quarters. They don't manage it; I was a little embarassed for them.
Both characters are pretty much one-dimensional; the woman's son is almost an afterthought in the film.
One last thing....the characters in this film have got to be the worst shots in the history of the west.
DVD works just fine; sound and picture are good.