The Shootist

The Shootist is a great swan song to the film career of John Wayne and a great movie on its own merit. The parallels between Wayne's life at the time the film was made and the character(J.B.Brooks) he plays in the movie only add a poignant sadness. This sadness is part of the film, it never lets up. The first jolt of sadness comes when we see Wayne visiting with the town doctor, played by Jimmy Stewart. Wayne is diagnosed with an incurable cancer. This news seems to trouble Stewarts character as much as it does with Waynes. As both characters try to come to grips with this diagnosis, I was left wondering: am I watching the work of two gifted actors play acting in a movie or am I watching two old friends bringing their reality into the movie?. Whatever the case, the scene is very moving.

Also in the cast is Lauren Bacall as the recently widowed inn keeper. She helps keep Wayne's character fulfilled and feisty during his last days. Ironicly, this job was something she was familiar with, as she did this in real life with her late husband Humphrey Bogart.

There are many good performances by the rest of the cast. But it is the circumstances under which they were filmed for Wayne, that make his a truly unbelievable performance. There are two of his scenes that stand out for me: 1) Listening to John Wayne and Scatman Crothers haggle over the selling price of Wayne's horse. Yeah, it might not sound like much here in print, but that's just a testimony of how well these two actors pull that scene off. Just great. 2) Seeing John Wayne enter the saloon with a purpose for the last time. Truly one of the most bone chilling cinematic moments of all time.

If you love John Wayne then I'm certain that you love this film already. If you can take or leave John Wayne, you might at least like this film. But if you don't care for Wayne or for that matter, if you don't like westerns, you'll probably still like this film. At least I hope so. 9/10.

Clark Richards