The cast is stellar - Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman - this is why I picked up the movie. The only person who tops them all is Mr. Clint Eastwood as the director!
It is after a long time that I’ve seen a movie that was so satisfying in a lot of ways~ Character definition, cinematography, story, background musical score, sound. True that better movies have been made by others and seen by me, but the specialty of this movie was that I always thought Clint Eastwood was NOT a good director - I considered him to be one of those people who refuse to quit doing what they love even if they are doing it badly. After watching this movie, I have to apologise to Mr. Eastwood for my assumptions.
I loved watching this movie.
The plot - In the remote town of Big Whiskey - Wyoming, a (Anna Levine) is brutally attacked when she giggles at the small pecker of a customer. In a fit of drunken rage, she is attacked on her face with a knife. She lives thru the wound, but it kills her profession as no one will want to sleep with a bad faced . The sheriff "Little Bill"(Gene Hackman) punishes the offenders in what he thinks is justice, but the leader of the s(Frances Fisher) think they was let off too easily. She asks everyone to collect their life’s savings and the ladies offer a reward of$ 1, 000 in exchange for the lives of the offenders.
Clint Eastwood is a retired outlaws by the name of William’Bill’ Munny who raises pigs on a farm for a living to support his 2 kids from his dead wife. When approached by an outlaw who calls himself The Schofield Kid(Jaimz Woolvett), Bill initially refuses to go back to his killing days, but struck by poverty, the prospect of an easy 500 dollars sounds too good to pass up, especially when 2 of his pigs have fever and a woman has been wronged!
He goes to join the "Kid" and asks his friend to watch after his children during his absence. His friend Ned Logan(Morgan Freeman) is also his erstwhile partner. He teams up with Bill for money and they both head together to find the "Kid" to go after the killers.
By this time the news of the reward spreads far and wide and another outlaw by the name of "English Bob"(Richard Harris) also heads for the town of Big Whiskey to collect the booty. Accompanying him is his aide W.W. Beauchamp who is a writer(Saul Rubinek) and has written a book on the heroic tales of English Bob.
Trouble brews in Big Whiskey as the characters - with their own strong sense of right and wrong; with their own tales, some true and others false - all gather there in a modern day gunfight that culminates in death, mayhem and revelations for many people. Watch the movie to find out what happens and how!
The movie will leave you in awe and in respect for Mr. Clint Eastwood - the actor and the director!
Made in 1992, the movie collected no less then 4 oscars in 1993 -
Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Gene Hackman
Best Director - Clint Eastwood
Best Film Editing - Joel Cox
Best Picture - **Clint Eastwood
It also had these nominations-
Best Actor in a Leading Role - Clint Eastwood
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration - Henry Bumstead and Janice Blackie-Goodine
Best Cinematography - Jack N. Green
Best Sound - Les Fresholtz, Vern Poore, Rick Alexander(as Dick Alexander), Rob Young
Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen - David Webb Peoples
Please see https://imdb.com/title/tt0105695/awards for other awards and nominations.
The movie is like reading a story written by a very good story teller. It draws you in slowly in its duration of 2 hours and 7 minutes and by the time the climax culminates, it leaves you rivetted in a vice like grip by the taut direction and story-telling effort of Mr. Eastwood.
The scenery of the small town setting in the middle of nowhere, the treatment metted out to its dwellers, the change in the emotions on the faces of characters as they go from jolly revellers to cold murderers in an instant, the unpredictable nature of a man totting a gun - all of this is what makes a great classic western - and Mr. Eastwood knows how to tell a western tale without it losing any of its charm. The characters are made likable - they are made believable. You get to know their true nature as bit-by-bit of it is revealed as the story progresses.
Justice cannot be done by simply narrating how good the movie is - it has to be seen to really enjoy it. While a glass of southern Whiskey is not necessary, it may enhance the charm of this western as will a cigar.
Verdict: 4.7/5
Verdict after having new found respect for the director: 5/5