As I've said before in many reviews—which you, almost certainly reading this on the Joe Kidd page rather than my own review collection, likely won't have read—I am taking a systematic journey through the career of the great Clinton Eastwood. Next stop in the Universal box set I had obtained: Joe Kidd.
Locked up for hunting on Indian land, Joe Kidd's court hearing is interrupted by a raid from bandito Louis Chama and his crew. Invited to join a posse to take down Chama led by the wealthy Frank Harlan, Kidd is indifferent and insufficiently tempted by Harlan's offer of payment. When he sees that his own ranch has been raided, however, he decides to join the posse.
Having yet to see the Dollars trilogy which famously established Eastwood as a western legend, I believe I'm correct in calling Joe Kidd the very first conventional western I'd seen with Clint in. My relationship with the genre is a fledgling one, no large quantity of affection held on my part, though no cynicism or doubtfulness either. Kidd is introduced initially from beneath his hat; he occupies the classic tilted stetson position of rest. Despite his original imprisonment, his authority and toughness are quickly established as he reacts quickly and viciously to the jesting of a fellow inmate. Kidd is the typical westerner, his casualness as he struts about the town and settles in the bar in the middle of a bandito raid attesting to his nonchalance and disregard for the world beyond his own concerns. Eastwood does his thing, playing this role of the austere masculine hero with a reserved anger and his trademark snarl. Strong support comes in the form of Robert Duvall, who looks aged beyond his years as the thin-haired, mustachioed Harlan. Kidd's discomfort regarding Harlan's excessively violent tactics in locating Chaman adds a layer to his character, his development as a more conscientious and less self-centred individual a very positive factor in the process of the film's narrative. In a way, the combination of Kidd as a western archetype and his disapproval of the thoughtless murder employed by his cohorts reevaluates the westerns of days gone by, the film shaking its head at the disregard of its predecessors for human life. This is by no means the film's primary raison d'être, but it appends a nice moralistic footnote nonetheless. Once Kidd's unwillingness to participate in the ritualised slaughter is known, he is locked up and thereafter begins the main action of the film, as he expertly and humorously dispatches with Harlan's various cronies. The final showdown, the classically entertaining spectacle which ends most every western, features the most brilliantly hilarious and ingeniously mental action set-piece I have seen in quite some time. Topped off with a good old-fashioned shootout, the climactic finale is a great ending to a western that, if not entirely unique and original, is terrific fun.
Though it's certainly no masterpiece, the recurrent morality of Joe Kidd elevates it beyond simplistic western action. A relatively standard genre film from start to finish, it benefits from Eastwood, Duvall, and indeed the cast as a whole. Memorable for its excellent finale, there are far worse ways than watching this to pass the time.
Locked up for hunting on Indian land, Joe Kidd's court hearing is interrupted by a raid from bandito Louis Chama and his crew. Invited to join a posse to take down Chama led by the wealthy Frank Harlan, Kidd is indifferent and insufficiently tempted by Harlan's offer of payment. When he sees that his own ranch has been raided, however, he decides to join the posse.
Having yet to see the Dollars trilogy which famously established Eastwood as a western legend, I believe I'm correct in calling Joe Kidd the very first conventional western I'd seen with Clint in. My relationship with the genre is a fledgling one, no large quantity of affection held on my part, though no cynicism or doubtfulness either. Kidd is introduced initially from beneath his hat; he occupies the classic tilted stetson position of rest. Despite his original imprisonment, his authority and toughness are quickly established as he reacts quickly and viciously to the jesting of a fellow inmate. Kidd is the typical westerner, his casualness as he struts about the town and settles in the bar in the middle of a bandito raid attesting to his nonchalance and disregard for the world beyond his own concerns. Eastwood does his thing, playing this role of the austere masculine hero with a reserved anger and his trademark snarl. Strong support comes in the form of Robert Duvall, who looks aged beyond his years as the thin-haired, mustachioed Harlan. Kidd's discomfort regarding Harlan's excessively violent tactics in locating Chaman adds a layer to his character, his development as a more conscientious and less self-centred individual a very positive factor in the process of the film's narrative. In a way, the combination of Kidd as a western archetype and his disapproval of the thoughtless murder employed by his cohorts reevaluates the westerns of days gone by, the film shaking its head at the disregard of its predecessors for human life. This is by no means the film's primary raison d'être, but it appends a nice moralistic footnote nonetheless. Once Kidd's unwillingness to participate in the ritualised slaughter is known, he is locked up and thereafter begins the main action of the film, as he expertly and humorously dispatches with Harlan's various cronies. The final showdown, the classically entertaining spectacle which ends most every western, features the most brilliantly hilarious and ingeniously mental action set-piece I have seen in quite some time. Topped off with a good old-fashioned shootout, the climactic finale is a great ending to a western that, if not entirely unique and original, is terrific fun.
Though it's certainly no masterpiece, the recurrent morality of Joe Kidd elevates it beyond simplistic western action. A relatively standard genre film from start to finish, it benefits from Eastwood, Duvall, and indeed the cast as a whole. Memorable for its excellent finale, there are far worse ways than watching this to pass the time.