Hmm, only three months since my last western and five since my last serious one. But this is a bit rarer: a serious western from the late '70s. Well, Clint Eastwood never was one for comedy.
After Union guerrillas under Captain Terrill (Bill McKinney) murder the wife and son of Missouri civilian Josey (Eastwood), he joins a Confederate bushwhacker gang. They become among the last postwar holdouts, until most of them pursue a promise of amnesty that turns out to be a lethal trap, care of Terrill. Josey, of course, is too badass to go down that easy, so a massive manhunt ensues.
I suppose Josey can't take all the credit. He may have improbable aim and a ludicrous number of shots before needing to reload, but at quite a few points, some armed ally surprises his would-be assailant. Indeed, he amasses quite a few friends for a criminal drifter, most notably a talkative Cherokee (Chief Dan George) who wanted to collect the reward on him, a more talkative but not English-speaking Navajo youth (Geraldine Keams), and a casual love interest (Sandra Locke, Eastwood's RL lover) who's actually not bad with a rifle. (The American Indians do not represent stereotypes to my knowledge, and viewers appreciate that.)
It's not that Eastwood's character is any more likable than usual. Josey's signature is constant tobacco spitting, often onto people or animals (what does he have against that poor dog?). He kills all the rapists he meets, yet he's in no hurry to interrupt their progress (how did this not get an R rating?). And he doesn't exactly welcome the growth of his party, even when he needs all the help he can get. Well, at least we get to see him cry early on, in defiance of the common perception that Eastwood doesn't act.
I could dismiss Josey's semi-popularity as the "Jerk Sue" phenomenon, but I feel more generous than that. Maybe people are drawn to him because, in contrast to the Man with No Name, his name is bandied about enough to make him a living legend. Sure, rumors make him out to be a ruthless killer of innocents, but up close and personal, he's not such a monster. The shattering of that illusion can go a long way.
Meanwhile, you might be put off by the vilification of everyone in a blue uniform, particularly when we get absolutely no reminders of slavery and don't see much of what the bushwhackers do. I already knew that U.S. soldiers could be brutal during the War Between the States, but I was unfamiliar with the slang "red legs" for the worst of them. If you want nuance, look instead to Fletcher (John Vernon), the reluctant Judas of the bushwhackers, who alternates between aiding Terrill and hoping Josey gets away.
This being one of only two westerns I've known to include machine guns, I'm not surprised that it has the highest body count I've seen since the other, The Wild Bunch. In fact, the only Eastwood movie with more dead at his character's hands is Where Eagles Dare. Fortunately, the violence is not especially gruesome to watch.
TOJW runs a bit longer than necessary, 135 minutes, but I didn't regret devoting that time to it. Even if it ends with a ride into the sunset, it's not something I feel like I've seen too many times already.
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