Starring
William Holden, Ryan O'Neal, Karl Malden, Joe Don Baker, Tom
Skerritt, James Olson, Victor French, Lynn Carlin, Leora Dana, Rachel
Roberts. Directed by Blake Edwards. (1971/137 min).
AVAILABLE
ON BLU-RAY FROM
Review
by Mr. Paws😼
Blake
Edwards is not the first director who comes-to-mind when it comes to
westerns, for good reason. He's mostly synonymous with comedy, both
slapstick and satirical...an odd choice to write & direct a
relatively straightforward western. While he's decidedly out of his
element here, Wild Rovers is ultimately anchored by a
dedicated performance from William Holden, fresh off his comeback
role in The Wild Bunch.
Actually,
Wild Rovers is narratively - even a little thematically -
similar to Peckinpah's classic, with Holden playing aging cowpoke
Ross Bodine, sort-of a kinder, gentler variation of Pike Bishop. He's
worked his whole life as a hired hand with little to show for it,
though still has dreams of someday retiring comfortably in Mexico.
His young partner, Frank Post (Ryan O'Neal), is equally unsatisfied
working for others and suggests robbing the local bank, which they do
without firing a shot.
Their
former employer, Walt Buckman (Karl Malden), sends his two sons after
them, hoping to get their payroll back. The rest of the film has
Bodine & Post heading south - with a few episodic adventures
along the way - while Paul and John Buckman (Tom Skerritt & Joe
Don Baker) close in on them. Considering Edwards' reputation, much of this is surprisingly somber and leisurely paced,
compounded by a pointless subplot involving Walt's ongoing clash with
local sheep farmers.
 |
| "I swear to God, I heard him speak...but who the hell is Wilbur?" |
Edwards
obviously had loftier ambitions than cranking out a traditional
western. One can sense films like The Wild Bunch helped
influence his direction. But where Peckinpah was bold and brash,
Edwards appears to believe his characters are interesting enough to
justify lengthy scenes that really don't amount to much. While Bodine
is sympathetic, charming and quietly complex, that's due more to the
sincerity of Holden's performance than Edwards' script. Conversely,
I've always found Ryan O'Neal to be an overbearing actor and he's
totally miscast as Post. What the character really needed was a more
subtle touch (co-star Tom Skerritt might have been perfect).
A
box office disappointment when released in 1971 and largely forgotten
since then, Wild Rovers is not quite the revisionist western
Blake Edwards was probably striving for and he pretty-much stuck to
comedy for the rest of his career. It's a little too poky to be
consistently engaging, but William Holden at-least keeps it
watchable.
EXTRA
KIBBLES
"THE
MOVIE MAKERS" - Vintage making-of featurette
TRAILER
KITTY CONSENSUS:
NOT BAD. LIKE CAT CHOW.
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