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The Missouri Breaks
(directed by Arthur Penn, 1976)
Fierceness is Marlon Brando! The Missouri Breaks is a western that pairs Jack Nicholson and Marlon Brando as hero and villain and, boy, does Brando play a villain. While he may have legitimate reasons to go after some rustlers after being hired by a possibly gay land baron, Brando's character, Robert E. Lee Clayton, a "regulator", is an eccentric, possibly gay, very messed up, psychopathic mastermind. It was like watching Hannibal Lecter at work in the old west. This man knows how to catch prey, knows how to manipulate people psychologically, knows when to strike. Brando's performance stole the show and made The Missouri Breaks absolutely unforgettable to me.
Jack Nicholson was flaunting his acting talent as well, but his performance was toned down, masculine, vulnerable and yet steady. Here he is as Tom Logan, a rustler avenging a friend's death at the hands of David Braxton (John McLiam), the land baron who takes the law into his own hands. Tom has also attracted the attention of Braxton's virgin daughter, Jane, who rides up to Tom on her horse and practically begs him for sexual intercourse. Giddy up! He gives it to her, although later. Brando at times catches them through his binoculars. He enjoys their little trysts. He also likes to look at the birds.
Sometimes, the movie got a little boring, but that's probably my own fault. I'm not a western lover - yet, anyway. I don't always enjoy the scenes where all the men get together and just do things like talk or gather horses and things. It all feels so ancient to me. Life was really like this once? I was amused by a scene in which Jack Nicholson and Randy Quaid (who was quite cute in this movie, by the way) and some others go to a whorehouse -- and it wasn't like any whorehouse I've ever seen. All the women were UGLY! There's a funny moment where it looked like, to me, the guys were passing by a room that had a very old whore waiting for somebody to bang her and I think they were horrified, but I was horrified by all of the women in that whorehouse! My gayness increased during this scene. I could feel it. You could have taken my gay temperature (guess where at) for proof.
Speaking of gayness, did I mention that crazy, flamboyant Marlon Brando? He first appears in a loud western getup and we soon learn he's smelling like lilacs. Later, he's wearing a granny dress and a bonnet-like thing. He wears lots of hats and he's always eating carrots (or giving them to his horses while acting strange) and farting or taking a bubble bath and when he's not doing any of that, he's MASSACRING! Well, I've probably said enough about him, but he really helped bring this movie to life. It takes about a half hour before he shows up and the movie was a little stale before then. He seems like he's gonna be this gentle good fellow character at first, but don't be fooled. He's going to get down to business and kill some rustlers.
As for the overall effect of the movie, I could not stand things like the harmonica playing at times on the soundtrack and all the old, usual western movie utensils. The scenery was very good, though - this is a pretty movie -- even for DVD and not Blu-ray. Pacing was pretty good - it's two hours long but engaging and never really boring. All of the elements are used - earth, air, fire and water. Dialogue is terrific and surprising. There are haunting images of burning wood houses and dead bodies and Marlon Brando in a tub and whores that need the tub and a Vidal Sassoon salon. There's romance and sex scenes and Silence of the Lambs-like murder scenes. There's a train robbery. There's gardening. There's scenes that would make P.E.T.A. break in half every DVD of this movie they could find.
I've hardly watched any westerns in my life, but I thought The Missouri Breaks was a Tour de force for Marlon Brando, an intriguing work of Jack Nicholson's, and an overall odd and exciting trip through the mountains, through the past and through the creative, intelligent mind of man.
(directed by Arthur Penn, 1976)
Fierceness is Marlon Brando! The Missouri Breaks is a western that pairs Jack Nicholson and Marlon Brando as hero and villain and, boy, does Brando play a villain. While he may have legitimate reasons to go after some rustlers after being hired by a possibly gay land baron, Brando's character, Robert E. Lee Clayton, a "regulator", is an eccentric, possibly gay, very messed up, psychopathic mastermind. It was like watching Hannibal Lecter at work in the old west. This man knows how to catch prey, knows how to manipulate people psychologically, knows when to strike. Brando's performance stole the show and made The Missouri Breaks absolutely unforgettable to me.
Jack Nicholson was flaunting his acting talent as well, but his performance was toned down, masculine, vulnerable and yet steady. Here he is as Tom Logan, a rustler avenging a friend's death at the hands of David Braxton (John McLiam), the land baron who takes the law into his own hands. Tom has also attracted the attention of Braxton's virgin daughter, Jane, who rides up to Tom on her horse and practically begs him for sexual intercourse. Giddy up! He gives it to her, although later. Brando at times catches them through his binoculars. He enjoys their little trysts. He also likes to look at the birds.
Sometimes, the movie got a little boring, but that's probably my own fault. I'm not a western lover - yet, anyway. I don't always enjoy the scenes where all the men get together and just do things like talk or gather horses and things. It all feels so ancient to me. Life was really like this once? I was amused by a scene in which Jack Nicholson and Randy Quaid (who was quite cute in this movie, by the way) and some others go to a whorehouse -- and it wasn't like any whorehouse I've ever seen. All the women were UGLY! There's a funny moment where it looked like, to me, the guys were passing by a room that had a very old whore waiting for somebody to bang her and I think they were horrified, but I was horrified by all of the women in that whorehouse! My gayness increased during this scene. I could feel it. You could have taken my gay temperature (guess where at) for proof.
Speaking of gayness, did I mention that crazy, flamboyant Marlon Brando? He first appears in a loud western getup and we soon learn he's smelling like lilacs. Later, he's wearing a granny dress and a bonnet-like thing. He wears lots of hats and he's always eating carrots (or giving them to his horses while acting strange) and farting or taking a bubble bath and when he's not doing any of that, he's MASSACRING! Well, I've probably said enough about him, but he really helped bring this movie to life. It takes about a half hour before he shows up and the movie was a little stale before then. He seems like he's gonna be this gentle good fellow character at first, but don't be fooled. He's going to get down to business and kill some rustlers.
As for the overall effect of the movie, I could not stand things like the harmonica playing at times on the soundtrack and all the old, usual western movie utensils. The scenery was very good, though - this is a pretty movie -- even for DVD and not Blu-ray. Pacing was pretty good - it's two hours long but engaging and never really boring. All of the elements are used - earth, air, fire and water. Dialogue is terrific and surprising. There are haunting images of burning wood houses and dead bodies and Marlon Brando in a tub and whores that need the tub and a Vidal Sassoon salon. There's romance and sex scenes and Silence of the Lambs-like murder scenes. There's a train robbery. There's gardening. There's scenes that would make P.E.T.A. break in half every DVD of this movie they could find.
I've hardly watched any westerns in my life, but I thought The Missouri Breaks was a Tour de force for Marlon Brando, an intriguing work of Jack Nicholson's, and an overall odd and exciting trip through the mountains, through the past and through the creative, intelligent mind of man.