Simply A Masterpiece

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

"The Shooting" is about the futility, the destructive, and the self- destructive nature of revenge. It's a story about how one person's single minded obsession can involve others and destroy them as well. When you seek revenge, or aid others in seeking revenge, you can destroy yourself and those around you. It's also a story about how difficult it can be to avoid getting involved in an enterprise that you know is going to be trouble, but circumstances just don't allow you to avoid it. You get sucked in.The woman will go to any lengths to kill the person who perhaps killed someone close to her (her husband and child? perhaps accidentally? we don't know the circumstances). She will enlist anyone she can any way she can. Simple-minded Coley is sucked in by her domineering attitude and her attractiveness. Will goes along for the easy money and to protect his friend Coley, not realizing the true nature of the mission (that the person she is chasing is actually Will's brother, the twist at the end). Billy Spears is a killer who would follow the woman just for kicks. People question if they all die, but whether they all die or not, they will never be the same. Coley is dead. Will lost his best friend (Coley) who was "dependent" on him. He also may have lost his brother (probably). He also lost his other partner back at the mine. And, he may have died at the end himself. Even if Billy doesn't die in the desert, his shattered gun hand will force him to find a new profession (and change his attitude, since he can no longer back up his arrogance with his gun). Perhaps the fact that he is walking alone in the desert at the end means that the others are dead, and that he will die soon as well, but does it really matter? All of their lives were destroyed due to the woman's obsession with revenge. She rode all the men and the horses to death in her obsessive quest for revenge (whether it was justified or not). Perhaps in the final scene, when Warren Oates sees his brother (himself) he is realizing the impact that this quest has had on him. He has destroyed himself.

Willett Gashade (Warren Oates) returns to his mining camp to find Coley (Will Hutchins) in a fright. Coley tells him that his brother Coin had walked away and their other partner Leland Drum got killed a couple of days earlier. A mysterious woman (Millie Perkins) finds herself at the camp after shooting her lame horse. Willett finds the dead horse not injured. She offers them $1000 to take her to Kingsley. Willett accepts despite not trusting her. They are followed by gunman Billy Spear (Jack Nicholson) who seems to be communicating with the nameless woman.This has an intriguing premise. It's one that seems foreseeable. Some version of that ending was always expected. The movie brings out the mystery but the intensity could be higher. Oates is solid. On the other hand, Perkins' acting is a little flat. Her role could have been really juicy but she doesn't bring it. It's an intriguing indie western.

This is a surprising movie based on when it was released. It demonstrates how much influence Leone had, but this one reverses the trend. Instead of deconstructing the classic Hollywood western and re- tasking it as with the Italian system, this indie take on the genre kicks the can even further down the road.This is art more than a commercial venture, and, accordingly, the consumer mindset addled viewer that wants to be spoon fed pap will recoil in horror that this movie requires them to work almost as hard as the cast. If you're the kind of person that says, "Keep it simple stupid", or gets exasperated with semantic arguments thinking they are pointless, you will not like this movie. It makes you think. It doesn't give you an ending even, if you don't. The "Hey, cut the crap, just tell me how to get what I want" crowd will throw their hands up in horror. Reactions to this one would be a really good test of just how much of a mindless consumer one has become. In our society it is not surprising that there are some really negative reactions to this one. They're the same people that think you're less than a human being- literally- if you don't support the local NFL franchise religiously. That said, if you're not like that and you like Spaghetti genre westerns, this isn't the best, but it is a must see, imho. I have no guess as to why some moan about the cast. They were all perfectly cast. Without giving out spoilers, I have to disagree that there is a surprise ending. It's more that it's a surprise how the ending is crafted, not the actual outcome. But that's the point of a 1965-66 style western deconstruction. It's far more considered than many that were doing that over the following five years. Don't believe the gripe. It's coming from conceptually lazy people. This one is an effort, but well worth it.Food pairing: Venison Chile Cheese Dogs with Shiner Bock

According to the DVD's synopsis, the Jack Nicholson character is supposed to be the villain, but I found this statement far from convincing in the movie itself, particularly as the movie makes no mention as to why he is being sought out. Once again, we have to depend upon the DVD's synopsis rather than on what we are told by the characters in the film. Fortunately, the story's four principal players are stunningly photographed against a series of awesome natural settings, but even these begin to pall before the movie has run its course. All told, this is a somewhat pretentious western that tends to out-stay its welcome. Worst of all, it comes to a rather abrupt and most unsatisfying conclusion. Oddly, although as stated above, the motivation of the central character played by Millie Perkins remained a complete mystery to me from first to last, I see that it is actually spelled out on the liner notes to the excellent El Paso DVD, but I'm still not convinced. My feeling is that the producer simply ran out of money, and that's why the movie ends rather abruptly, literally in mid-flight.