I would have loved to have seen the original 165-minute cut of Sam Peckinpah’s revisionist western, “Pat Garrett and Bill the Kid”, rather than one of the three incomplete versions that exist today. As it exists today, the movie is a flawed, and beautifully shot, poetic western that further emphasizes the Western conflict between the old, wild, free west against the new corporate world that was taking over the west.
The movie follows how two former friends have taken up opposite sides of this conflict. Billy (Country singer Kris Kristofferson) represents the old free life and continues to battle the rich landowners by rustling their cattle and stealing their stock. Pat Garrett (James Coburn in what may have been his greatest performance) used to ride with Billy and his gang but has since decided to change sides and is now the sheriff of the area who is tasked with bringing Billy in dead or alive on the charge of murder. Garrett would rather have Billy leave the country than have to kill him, but Billy refuses to leave. After capturing Billy for trial and hanging, Garrett treats him like a friendly guest, making it easy for Billy to escape. The powerful landowners and politicians of the area then demand that Garrett track him down and kill him.
One fascinating aspect of the movie, was Peckinpah’s decision to cast legendary Western character actors in small supporting roles, resulting in a very large cast. This decision also resulted in the extreme shallowness of many of the characters who pop up in the story. Still, I loved seeing actors such as Jack Elam, Harry Dean Stanton, Slim Pickens, Jason Robards, and others grace the screen with their familiar presence. This is especially true for a movie revolving around a revisionist film that deals with the deromanticizing of the American West.
Coburn is nothing short of superb in the lead role of Garrett. He evokes a weary wisdom that comes from understanding how the world around him is changing. He does not hide his disdain for the people he is working for or working with, while I always felt he wished he was riding with Billy instead of against him. Kristofferson, on the other hand, is a very limited actor, spouting similar expressions in every scene. He does look quite a bit like Jeff Bridges in this movie, but all that did was keep me wishing that Bridges had been cast in the movie instead of him.
For those who are familiar, and admire, Peckinpah’s other revisionist western, “The Wild Bunch”, will be familiar with the extensive and artistic violence shown here. While the bloodshed is not quite as extensive as it is in that film, there is no shortage of gunfights and carnage here. All shown with a close and personal touch that places the viewer right inside the action. There are plenty of Peckinpah’s slow motion and still framed shots of death in the movie. There are also some very tender and elegant shots of people facing death. For example, the Slim Pickens character is an older sheriff who is fatally shot and dies staring into a river while his wife cries in sadness with the touching Dylon song, “Knocking on Heaven’s Door”, playing in the background.
Bob Dylon wrote the music score for the movie, which includes the iconic, “Knocking on Heaven’s Door”, as well as many other rustic acoustic folk songs that add quite a bit of atmosphere to the movie. Dylon himself was cast as the somewhat superfluous character Alias. Other than Peckinpah wanting to pay homage to Coburn’s knife throwing character from, “The Magnificent Seven”, his Alias is just an empty filler or an excuse to give the legendary Dillon a role in the movie.
Unfortunately, there are quite a lot of narrative holes and cardboard caricatures in the movie, diminishing the power of the beautiful images within its harsh revisionist theme. For example, Billy escapes from his initial capture by taking a gun placed in the outhouse for him (again similar and a bit of homage to “The Godfather”). However, the movie does not even hint at who was the person who placed the gun there. Was it Garrett? Maybe, however, it is never made clear. Characters appear and are suddenly willing to be deputized with no reasoning behind their decision. Other characters appear for no apparent reason. I am certain that Peckinpah’s original cut of the movie made a lot more sense.
The edition of the movie that has survived is a visually stunning prophetic Western, featuring a great supporting cast and one superb performance. It also has one terrible performance and a storyline that is full of more holes than all the bullet holes appearing in the movie. Still, I was never bored watching it, and that is certainly worth something.
1001 Movies before you die 