In the 1980 Sam Shepherd play True West, aspiring screenwriter Lee calls this the last great western, but his description makes it sound awkward if not ridiculous. When I noticed that the movie was popular anyway, I decided to find out whether he was accurate or just foolish as usual.
In modern New Mexico, cowhand Jack (Kirk Douglas) deliberately goes to jail in order to bust out a friend, Paul (Michael Kane), only to find that Paul would rather stay. Jack breaks loose within the day and flees to the mountains on horseback while authorities, most notably Sheriff Johnson (Walter Matthau), hunt him.
Yes, that's one of my shortest plot summaries on this blog. What was so hard about it, Lee? Yours is a bit misleading in focus, and your assessment of the ending is dubious.
I also hesitate to call this a western. Sure, Jack is nostalgic for the Wild West as he rides thru fenced-off land and across highways, and he gets into a bar brawl, but everything else is mid-20th century. Nor does it conform much to the usual western ethical conundrum trope. About a third of the movie is more in the prison subgenre, and half feels like a precursor to First Blood, complete with an overzealous pursuing bully (George Kennedy), except that unlike fellow veteran Rambo, Jack doesn't seem nearly as vindicated in his rebellion. He just doesn't like law and order. No wonder a thuggish burglar such as Lee favors him. (Admittedly, many people today would want to free Paul, since his only charge was aiding illegal immigrants.)
Second billing goes to a character with little influence on the plot: Gena Rowlands as Paul's wife. She and Jack appear to have had feelings for each other, but it's not long before she expresses no more patience for him or Paul. Alas, she believes that all men are like them, and we never see her learn otherwise.
Douglas counted this among his favorite films, yet one thing bugged him about it: The mare kinda stole the show. Whiskey is frequently uncooperative and timid, leading Jack to chastise her a lot, but he loves her no less for it. I'm afraid the flick telegraphs enough that I probably could have guessed what happens to her without Lee's spoiler. I have to question Dalton Trumbo's wisdom on this point.
Much as I like both Douglas and cute animals, my personal favorite character is Johnson. He rather respects Jack, certainly more than he respects his deputies, including the goof who accompanies him in a jeep (William Schallert). I welcome a little levity in this picture.
It's too bad there's no color. Sure, B&W makes a certain sense from an artistic perspective, but we have to imagine how beautiful the natural terrain must be.
Overall, LAtB is pretty enjoyable. It just has a little trouble balancing the solemn and the hokey.
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