Along with "The Other Side of Midnight," this is one of my very favorite films that the critics somehow found reason to despise. There are at least a dozen scenes in this movie that are fascinating, memorable and stunningly original, causing me to wonder how a mediocrity like Leonard Maltin could give the film a "bomb" rating in his best-selling reference work.
One of my favorite scenes is the one in which Nicholson has a perfect opportunity to kill his nemesis as he wallows in a bubble bath. Up till that point, Brando has been depicted as a ruthless and fiendish killer. Now, Penn practically fills the screen with the pasty-white flesh of Brando's vulnerable, blubbery back. This comical expanse of flesh visually begs a sucking wound from Nicholson's .45, but he declines to plug Brando then and there, probably thinking he can best him later in a fair fight. He does, and the way in which he finally triumphs over this seemingly indefatigable killing machine -- a "regulator" hired by a bunch of cattlemen to deal with rustlers -- is one of the most chilling moments in all of filmdom. I give it four stars. Check it out!
One of my favorite scenes is the one in which Nicholson has a perfect opportunity to kill his nemesis as he wallows in a bubble bath. Up till that point, Brando has been depicted as a ruthless and fiendish killer. Now, Penn practically fills the screen with the pasty-white flesh of Brando's vulnerable, blubbery back. This comical expanse of flesh visually begs a sucking wound from Nicholson's .45, but he declines to plug Brando then and there, probably thinking he can best him later in a fair fight. He does, and the way in which he finally triumphs over this seemingly indefatigable killing machine -- a "regulator" hired by a bunch of cattlemen to deal with rustlers -- is one of the most chilling moments in all of filmdom. I give it four stars. Check it out!