Rio Bravo (1959)

4.9/5

Howard Hawks's Rio Bravo is by far his finest film. After a nail-biting, dialogue-free introduction, it instantly sets up a tense waiting game in the vein of High Noon that keeps you glued to the screen until the magnificent, explosive finale. This western is the perfect blend of drama, comedy, and romance. It's the movie version of Firefly, with a lot less space and a little more noir. The plot follows a recently-jailed hoodlum/murderer whose brother attempts to free him. The lawmen trying to make sure justice is served include the Sheriff John T. Chance (John Wayne), the reformed drunkard Dude (Dean Martin), the young gunslinger Colorado Ryan (Ricky Nelson), and the aged cripple Stumpy (Walter Brennan). While the main character is Chance, the most thematically interesting one is Dude, who must come to terms with his addiction and his worth as a human being.

The dialogue is at once humorous and charged. The acting works surprisingly well with the unique characters and involving story. The music starts off overbearing and overly melodramatic but quickly turns into a stellar companion of mood and atmosphere. I was underwhelmed by the somewhat plain and uninteresting cinematography, but that is to be expected in a Hawks film. The editing--specifically the pacing and plot progression--is superb. The technical aspects all work to make the already wonderful movie that much more appealing. Rio Bravo is an utter joy to watch.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053221/

Red River (1948)

3/5

I can't imagine who would want to make this movie or who would want to watch it. Howard Hawks's Red River is a 2+ hour Western about a cattle herder herding cattle. I can't really make it much more exciting than that, and neither can Hawks. The cinematography and editing are both uninteresting. The visuals don't sync up with audio in wide shots, where Hawks perhaps assumed we wouldn't be able to tell. There is a 30 second montage of men yelling out "Yee haw!" The acting is often theatrical and melodramatic. The story took over an hour to grab your attention, but once it did, it held onto you for the remainder of the film.

John Wayne's Thomas Dunson provides a fascinating base for a character study. It allowed the film to explore some interesting themes through Dunson's words, actions, and emotions. We see how he deals with aging, declining mental faculties, making mistakes, being hard-hearted, and being betrayed. Still, it would take a lot more than that for me to recommend this movie to anyone but the most die hard of Hawks fans or Western fans.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040724/