Pale Rider (1985)

The least of Clint's Westerns....

This is the least of Clint Eastwood's Western films. That is not to say that it's bad. It has a lot of good in it. It has great scenery (it was shot on location in Idaho by the great Bruce Surtees), and it has a genuine rustic feel to it. It feels very real. It has excellent performances, with kudos going to Michael Moriarty, who gives the best performance here as a "leader" of the miners, and Richard Dysart as a mining boss who wants to wipe out the settlers who are trying to find their own gold. It's beautifully shot (the interior scenes and night scenes are expertly done), but thematically, there's something missing here. Clint's character is just called Preacher, and it feels like a tamer version of Clint's Western masterpiece, High Plains Drifter. It feels like there are supernatural elements here, but you're not sure whether it's intentional, ambiguous, or just plain sloppiness. Even the final confrontation seems contrived. The film feels unfinished, like it's really not sure of itself, and the effect is disconcerting. It's one of the few Clint Eastwood films that has a very noticeable uneveness to it.

This is not a disaster, but it's not one of Clint's better pictures. It's worth viewing once or twice, mainly for the beautiful location photography and some good performances.



August 29, 2008

Better than Shane

One of the best Clint Eastwood westerns of all time. A retelling of the Shane story, but done so much better. I don't even own Shane since this beats it in every way. August 7, 2008

Coolest Clint Eastwood Ever.

Not very original (Clint got some ideas from previous westerns) but probably the coolest Clint Eastwood western of all time. Although "Unforgiven" was more realistic and "The Outlaw Josie Wales" had a better story, this one is cooler. The "Preacher" was also a better character than "The Stranger" from "High Plains Drifter." They should definitely put this one on HD DVD or Blu-ray. April 10, 2008

Good vs. Evil, with a twist!

Let's face it, nearly all Westerns are morality plays about good vs. evil, you know, the "good guys" verses the "bad guys." The challenge for film makers is how to package this morality play in a new, refreshing, and interesting way. Pale Rider succeeds in doing this in several ways. First, the scenery and cinematography are stunning--the American West has spectacular vistas, and this movie takes full advantage (check the credits for site locations, you may want to visit them someday). Secondly, the characters are well developed--you cheer for the good guys and loathe the bad ones. The mining camp occupants being the good guys are here depicted as clean, decent, moral, family types (though in reality, mining camps were probably full of greedy crooks, gamblers, whoremongers, and drunkards). The bad guys are the greedy, corporate miners led by LaHood and his employees, plus the hired guns he employs to drive out the poor, subsistence mining camp families. Enhanced by elements of answered prayer, love triangles (or in this case, a love quadrangle), coming of age innocence in a young girl, rescue missions, and supernatural overtones, Pale Rider brilliantly weaves together all these elements leading to a spectacular reconing as the Preacher turned gunslinger strikes out to obtain justice for all. "Preacher...we all love you Preacher....I love you....Thank you....Goodbye." The ending just about brings tears to your eyes. If only we all had such an advocate in real life. March 18, 2008

A somewhat mystic Western with a refreshingly positive story

Hull Barret (Michael Morairty) is the defacto leader of a group of pan miners dreaming of finding their big nuggets of gold on their tiny stakes. But the powerful Coy LaHood (Richard Dysart) wants to run them off their claims so he can seize them and use his powerful hydraulic mining techniques to get at the gold he is sure is there. His son, Josh (Christopher Penn), runs the day to day operations and uses some of his workers to harass and injure the pan miners so they will give up and move away.

When Hull takes a risky trip into town to get supplies, some of the LaHood thugs beat him and start to set fire to his wagon, but in comes a stranger that we come to know only as the Preacher (Clint Eastwood) he shows the thugs how to really use a good piece of hickory (an ax handle). The Preacher seems to be interested in helping the pan miners to pull together, find the strength they don't even know they have and stand up for themselves. Yet, he also negotiates a good deal for the pan miners to sell their claims. They reject the offer, in part because they believe the Preacher will fight with (for) them. However, the Preacher disappears. Their courage fails them.

How all this works out isn't hard to guess, but I will let you watch the film for yourself. There is also a rather uncomfortable love complication with the widow, Sarah Wheeler (Carrie Snodgrass) who is supposedly Hull's woman (they are just living together). She is obviously taken with the strong Preacher over the merely normal Hull. Sarah's daughter Megan (Sydney Penny) has also fallen head over heels for the Preacher and throws herself at him in an acutely painful scene. Again, you can see for yourself how this works out.

There are some memorably funny scenes. For example, The 7' 2" Richard Kiel plays a LaHood henchman named Club who is sent to intimidate the miners. He approaches the Preacher and Hull who are hammering hard on a boulder that Hull believes is hiding a big nugget of gold. Each blow removes a handful or rock and it will be slow going, but Club takes one of the sledgehammers and splits the boulder with one blow. After the Preacher dispatches with him (to Club's profound respect) attention returns to the boulder. The Preacher adds to his mystic nature (one thread of the story says he is dead) by also splitting the boulder with one blow.

This is a good movie and very much worth seeing. The performances are all good and the story, for all its Western conventions, has some fresh takes and an interesting story. I particularly liked its positive themes rather than the usual post-Western-Western bleakness. Yes, some of the special effects and props are a bit weak, but who cares. The movie is about the story rather than the visuals.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI
March 5, 2008

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