"The Shootist" was John Wayne's last film. He died of cancer shortly after its release. Ironic, then, that his character in the movie is a "shootist" dying of cancer out west in 1901. His doctor (James Stewart) gives him a short period of time to live. He decides to take an easier route, and returns to his old stomping grounds in order to find a quick and painless death.
Along the way he meets The Son (Ron Howard in one of his early roles), and a various assortment of other characters, in his search for suicide.
Don Siegel ("Dirty Harry") has always been one of my favorite directors -- he's made some truly terrific films in his career. "The Shootist" is one of his best. The last thing we expect in a John Wayne film is a dying, frail, pessimistic human being. We get it.
Books, the titular "shootist," is arguably Wayne's deepest character he would ever play; and his story is one of the most compelling of Wayne's entire career. The acting is top-notch, the direction low-key, subtle, and effective. It's hard-edged, just like "Dirty Harry" (1971): bloody, violent, a bit over-the-top (if it were made in Hollywood today it would probably look a lot like "Kill Bill").
Yet the film's best moments are those involving its character, Books, and his strange quest for death. This movie strikes chords on many different levels. It's a really good film, one of the best of the 1970s, one of Don Siegel's best, and one of John Wayne's best, too.
And that's saying quite a lot.
Along the way he meets The Son (Ron Howard in one of his early roles), and a various assortment of other characters, in his search for suicide.
Don Siegel ("Dirty Harry") has always been one of my favorite directors -- he's made some truly terrific films in his career. "The Shootist" is one of his best. The last thing we expect in a John Wayne film is a dying, frail, pessimistic human being. We get it.
Books, the titular "shootist," is arguably Wayne's deepest character he would ever play; and his story is one of the most compelling of Wayne's entire career. The acting is top-notch, the direction low-key, subtle, and effective. It's hard-edged, just like "Dirty Harry" (1971): bloody, violent, a bit over-the-top (if it were made in Hollywood today it would probably look a lot like "Kill Bill").
Yet the film's best moments are those involving its character, Books, and his strange quest for death. This movie strikes chords on many different levels. It's a really good film, one of the best of the 1970s, one of Don Siegel's best, and one of John Wayne's best, too.
And that's saying quite a lot.