Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

Wordiezett So much average

Console best movie i've ever seen.

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Leofwine_draca THE SHOOTING is a very low budget American western directed by cult favourite Monte Hellman, a former Roger Corman man. This features Will Hutchins and Warren Oates in the lead roles, playing a couple of cowboys who are employed by the pretty Millie Perkins to guide her across an arid desert landscape in pursuit of a fugitive.This entire film consists of a handful of characters, their horses, and the harsh Utah landscapes. The desert setting is very well realised and Hellman shoots it in an active way. A pity, then, that the plotting is so slim and long-winded; very little happens en route aside from a lot of bickering, and the supposed twist ending is more head-scratching than anything else.This film is chiefly of interest for featuring Oates before he became a big film star in the 1970s in the likes of BADLANDS and BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA, and he still has that laidback charm. Also on hand is Jack Nicholson, here producing as well as taking the role of a slick gunslinger. Hutchins adds sympathy as the simpleton, but the real stand-out is Perkins whose driven character prefigures similar roles in the likes of HANNIE CAULDER and TRUE GRIT.

Woodyanders Shrewd bounty hunter Willett Gashade (the incomparable Warren Oates, who's splendid in his first meaty lead role) and his dimwitted partner Coley (amiable Will Hutchins) are hired by an angry and mysterious woman (well played with fierce intensity by Millie Perkins) to track down a man who has run off into the desert. They are eventually joined on their search by lethal gunslinger Billy Spear (a nicely sinister portrayal by Jack Nicholson).Director Monte Hellman relates the absorbing story at a hypnotically gradual pace, makes inspired use of the barren and desolate countryside, and offers a laudably harsh and unsentimental evocation of the old west. Carole Eastman's compelling and philosophical script provides a fascinating and provocative meditation on the duality of the human condition -- Willett and his identical twin brother Coin, who's ultimately revealed as the man they are tracking who apparently killed the woman's child in some kind of tragic accident, represent the contrasting sides of the existential coin pertaining to both good and evil which converge at the climax with catastrophic results -- as well as the ugly and corrosive nature of revenge (the woman shoots a white horse early in the movie and rides a black horse while embarking on her dark journey into the desert, thus symbolizing the savage spiritual damage done to her soul in the name of vengeance). The starling ending packs a devastating punch. Further enhanced by Gregory Sandor's beautifully stark cinematography and Richard Markowitz's moody score, this film completely deserves its cult status.

Matthew As I read the many reviews of "The Shooting" I am amazed at how "certain" some people are about their speculation while other people seem to completely miss the point of some aspects of the movie. It seems to me that you are supposed to be left guessing about many of the details. I.e. who, exactly, is the woman? and who shoots who in the end.The performance of "the woman" is a very difficult role and done quite well by Millie Perkins. She is playing the part of a clearly troubled and emotionally unstable woman who at the same time is very focused, determined, and calculating about one objective. The fact that she is slight and girlish in appearance is an intentional contrast to the vicious objective on which she has focused. Whatever her history, she is not a "gunslinger."The unknowns during the movie and the unanswered questions even at the end are completely intentional, I think. Reality isn't about being omniscient. Everyone lives and dies having known only part of the story they've lived through.Some clues in the movie that I think have been missed by many are as follows: The woman is more disturbed than would seem to be appropriate for being simply distraught over the death of husband and child. She also exhibits some signs of having been sexually assaulted.Will intentionally leaves a trail of flour for the woman following him. Why? He must have already known something about her and her objectives before he even talked to Coley. Will's hand is injured. How and why?Will was late getting back. He gives Coley an explanation, but it isn't very satisfactory.Will's gun is missing. What's up with that? Again, the dialogue doesn't give a satisfactory explanation.Why is it that the woman gets there so far ahead of the Sheriff?Why did the woman kill her horse? The obvious answer of drawing Will and Coley to her assistance seems to be an awfully high stakes gamble against the odds.Leland didn't seem to think he had anything to fear. So why did he get killed and Coley didn't (initially).If Billy wanted to kill Coley, why didn't he do it the night he killed Leland?Why wasn't Coin (Coan?) "running" faster and why did he trust the Bearded Man and yet leave him to die?What did the Bearded man tell Coley?What exactly was Coley trying to accomplish in the minutes leading up to his death?One might notice that I've switched from clues to questions. If anyone thinks they have easy, or certain, answers to the questions or conclusion from the clues, then they are missing the point of the movie.One last thing, pay careful attention to the colors of the horses and the horses legs.

funkyfry A reluctant bounty hunter (Warren Oates) and his naive hireling (Will Hutchins) are hired by a mysterious woman (Millie Perkins) to help her track down an unknown man. Along the way they're joined by the sadistic gunman (Jack Nicholson) she's hired to finish the job. Rancor and jealousy undermine the group as they pursue a quarry that may well mean death for them all.It's an interesting attempt at a psychological western that I think doesn't completely work. What really undermines the movie isn't so much Hellman's slow pace, which I had no problem with, but rather some poor casting of the leads. Perkins can barely speak her dialog without looking like she's reading off a queue card, and Hutchins is just one of the actors on this film who seems to be hopped up on amphetamines or something. On the other hand, there's absolutely no problem with Oates or Nicholson, two excellent actors having a good time playing off each other. In Oates' and Hellman's masterpiece, "Two-Lane Blacktop", the contrast between the good and the amateur actors in the film actually enhanced the cinema experience because it was a good parallel to the characters. But in this one it just feels like Hellman's odd fascination with Perkins (who starred in quite a few of his more serious films) is undermining things.Right up to the rather rushed existential ending, which anybody with half a brain can see coming a mile away, and the whole scene with Perkins rushing up the hill after this man (reminiscent of Jennifer Jones in "Duel in the Sun"), the film kept me glued to the set. It's an interesting film because it's so much more low-key than most American westerns of the time period. It's a departure from the big epics of the time and it's not as gimmicky and busy as the Italian westerns (although the music is reminiscent of the spaghetti style). For those seeking a more character-oriented western, this is a very god bet. I only wish they had enough money to hire a couple better actors to compliment Nicholson and Oates.