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Joe Kidd Customer Reviews (1 - 3 of 8 Reviews)

Just Okay
I really wanted to like this film a lot: what with Clint and Robert Duvall starring together.

But it's just not a very good film. It has the flavor of classic Clint and the western drama but lacks the substance. The story line is too improbable for even the most ardent fan. The dialogue and action are slow and drawn out. Like molasses.
And the climax is just plain limp.

Fortunately, there are so many great Clint westerns to choose from - Hang'em High, Good, Bad, and the Ugly trio, The Outlaw Josey Wales (one of Clint's favorites) that the viewer can still enjoy wonderful westerns of the highest quality - but this isn't one of them.

Three stars.

Sober & Conservative Eastwood Western, still worth the Money
Another sober and conservative Eastwood Western, directed by John Sturges this time... Although not as captivating or as intriguing as the following High Plains Drifter, it nevertheless has all the classic ingredients, absolutely great sceneries, a relatively modest story, and a rather fine cast (including Robert Duvall). The existential themes are a bit in the wake and following of Hang 'Em High, i.e. the question of Justice, Right and Wrong, etc. (themes that were to be omnipresent in all of Eastwood's subsequent Westerns). Of course it isn't a truly Fantastic Western, at least by the standard of his following ones (High Plain Drifters, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Pale Rider), but it's nevertheless still worth a cool watch, if only for the extremely beautiful outdoors...

Draped over the saddle...
"Joe Kidd" is not your standard Clint Eastwood western. The follow up to the very successful "Dirty Harry", is listless and disappointing. Slowly paced, the muddled plot takes a while to finally get going, then turns around to crash land where it began. The film has a familiar cast, which includes Robert Duvall, John Saxon, James Wainwright, Don Stroud, Paul Koslo and Gregory Walcott.

Joe Kidd is a farmer, drawn into a land squabble involving wealthy businessman Frank Harlan (Duvall) and Louis Chama (Saxon), the leader of a disgruntled group of settlers. Chama's efforts at land reform could upset Harlan's plans, and so he wants him dead. Harlan's hired guns include Simms (Stroud), Mingo (Wainwright), and Gannon (Koslo). Kidd is hired as a guide, to help track down Chama, but the job doesn't last long, and he finds himself imprisoned in a church in Chama's home village. Escaping into the hills, with Chama's woman (Stella Garcia), he meets up with the outlaw, and convinces him to return to face justice in the same court system he detests.

Elmore Leonard's story is just weak, and neither Eastwood nor Oscar winner Duvall can save it. Eastwood seems to be uninspired, and Duvall really isn't given much to work with. Saxon is an odd choice, as a Latino who abandons his principles without much of a fight. Only Don Stroud puts some punch into the movie, playing an antagonistic killer, provoking Kidd to fight. His attitude and language do not match the time period, but who cares since not much else is happening? His untimely end is so quick that we feel denied of satisfaction, which could be said for the whole movie.

Lalo Schifrin's score featuring modern electronic instruments, while cool, seems inappropriate in a western. John Sturges, who has directed some fine action films in the past, like "The Great Escape" and "The Magnificent Seven", has material of much different quality to work with here. Overall, not one of Clint's better efforts.

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