list/discuss/rate - your recently watched movies

Hadn't seen it in many years and wanted to see if I would still enjoy it. I did. Although director Howard Hawks denied that it's a remake of Rio Bravo (another good one), it's pretty obvious that it is. It's a formulaic western of the period but definitely enjoyable with a good cast.

John Wayne and Robert Mitchum, what's not to like? Also has James Caan, Christopher George, Ed Asner, and the super cute Michelle Carey . 

Set on the territory of a Hebridean island inhabited by pagans, this is a story of Sergeant Howie, a devout Christian, on an official business to locate a missing person. The end of the plot is obviously not very realistic, but hey: it's a movie, for Christ's sake. 

The screenplay, written for the film by Anthony Shaffer, revolves around something of a conflict between Christianity and paganism. It appears that the story is trying to make a point that without Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, society could fall prey to a breakdown of the social order on a deep, spiritual level; we would not be able to grasp the concepts of decency and shame. 

Worshiping The Sun God that rewards them with annual harvests, the locals practice sex in public as well as strange medicinal methods, allow for formal education that seems to be predicated mostly on sex, and do not shy away from masturbation (like a good Christian should, I guess) among other things. Never mind the suspiciously phallic-looking hedges, but that complaint should go to the gardeners that don't even speak Spanish. 

For most of my life I never really liked films where [spoiler alert] the good protagonist dies. However, it appears that Sgt Howie's death at the end of the film does serve a purpose [spoiler alert over]. In the mix we have: 

1a) the ostensible powerlessness of Howie's God or 

1b) his seeming inability to understand the word of the Lord; and 

2) the fact that Howie did not leave any kind of trace after himself (aside from the obvious - his death will go on unreported). He did not leave a child ('cause I guess sex is on his devout Christian's no-no list), not a built house, not a painting, not a poem, not a prog metal studio album, not a freaking memoir - basically, no legacy of any kind, no evidence of his existence, no proof of contribution, or anything just to look at. 

There are certain things about it, however, that threw me off. For instance, the movie fails as a horror one because for 98% of its duration it felt more like mystery than horror, and the director Robin Hardy couldn't find a balance between the two. Also, I couldn't figure out for the life of me what place scenes like Britt Ekland's naked dance have in the movie. I guess musical and horror/mystery/crime don't go well together, as one can have the potential to offset the other. In addition to that, the cutesy music does not complement well the scene with mass copulation on sands in the night. Last but not least, making Howie look like a fool to the last minute, ignorant of what is at the heart of the locals' paganism and what is at the heart of Christianity, did not help anything at all. 

While I do appreciate the depth of detail given to the story, I cannot help but think that certain ideas placed in it do not belong, while some parts of the film needed improvement. 

*** / *****

Coen Brothers "Period Piece" about a 1950's Hollywood film producer and I believe 4 different films he was juggling. People seem to think this movie was about George Clooney's character, but Josh Brolin plays the producer and at his current age fits the part to a T. It is a visually fantastic film, but the story floundered more than your average Coen film. It was enjoyable, but not great.

Are we giving these stars? 6.5/10 I guess.