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The ShootingRating:
Release Date: 24 October, 2000 Retail Price: $9.99 Sorry, this product is not currently available. Cast: Complete Cast (6 total) |
The Shooting Reviews
What are these people talking about!?
This film has been discussed by fans with an almost hushed reverance. They claim it to be so enigmatic, so thought provoking, so compelling, so unpredictable, and on and on, but I'm here to tell you now that this is pure garbage.
I typically don't recap plots in my reviews, but let me summarize this one's for you, since fans seem to think it's hard to put into words what really went on in this film...
Warren Oates is a miner, away for some reason, who returns to camp to find that his brother, Coin, who was mining with him and two other men, ran afoul of the law during his absence, and had to flee the area. Only one of the two remaining men, Will Hutchins, is left alive, as the third man was shot from afar just after Coin fled, apparently having been mistaken for Coin. A mysterious woman, Millie Perkins, arrives on the scene and hires the two men to guide her to some distant town. During the trek, they find out they are actually trailing someone, and are joined in the hunt by hired gun, Jack Nicholson. Oates and Hutchins begin to feel uneasy about being on a man's trail, Nicholson intimidates them (we later learn that he was the one who fired on their mining camp), and Perkins is a real bitch, but they find themselves basically trapped. Ultimately, they discover the man they are trailing is Coin.
This is basically a long Twilight Zone episode, and one that's lame and poorly done. Fans have claimed this to be unpredictable. Come on now- how hard is it to see that it's Oates' own brother he is helping to hunt down!?
I haven't seen "Two Lane Blacktop" or "Ride the Whirlwind", but I did see and love "Cockfighter", so I know that Monte Hellman does have some talent, but based off "The Shooting" alone, I would of had this guy pegged as a hack. It looks like the kind of thing a film student would make- something with a faux artiness and "big" twist at the end, but ultimately empty, even laughable...
There are a few unanswered questions, and maybe fans are getting duped by those into thinking this is something more than it is. That's yet another hallmark of poor, student filmmaking- throw in some confusing items that never get explained, so people think there's a deeper meaning.
****This part added several days later*****
Admittedly, there is something compelling to this film, and it did stick with me for some time (Was it anger at my disappointment? Hard to say what it was, but I did think about it frequently in the days following.). Maybe it was the acting talent that drove the film and left an impression (Although Will Hutchins was terrible and overacted so badly, he looked like he stepped out of a Gabbie Hayes era western.). But I do admit, something left an impression. I can't entirely say what that impression was at this point, so maybe the director did succeed in some regard. I have since seen "Two Lane Blacktop" and understand him better, but I'm still not relenting on my claim that "The Shooting" is ultimately a poor movie. I tried to bump it up to two stars for what it's worth, but amazon is only letting me edit the text portion of this review..
SEE THIS WITH "RIDE IN THE WHIRLWIND"
In the spring of 1965, Roger Corman, the king of profitable, low budget movies, helped produce (without credit) two amazing films that have achieved legendary cult status. Now, thanks to VCI Home Video, Monte Hellman's "THE SHOOTING" and "RIDE IN THE WHIRLWIND" are available on DVD in pristine, widescreen transfers. The films are subtly interconected.
Both films star a then unknown Jack Nicholson and super starlet Millie Perkins and were shot simultaneously on location in Utah for the modest amount of $150,000. Nicholson also wrote and co-produced "Ride in the Whirlwind" which is a straightforward tale of the making of a bad man and features sharp performances from Cameron Mitchell, the great Harry Dean Stanton, Rupert Crosse and Katherine Squire among others.
After accidentally happening on a group of outlaws, and getting caught in the crossfire by a sheriff and his posse, Wes (Jack Nicholson) is mistaken for one of the gang and escapes. But, in order to defend himself during his flight, has to start killing. By the end of the film he has become a legendary and mythic figure. Quentin Tarantino, a big fan of Hellman, has called this "one of the greatest films ever made."
In the "The Shooting," former bounty hunter turned miner Gashade (Warren Oates) returns to his diggings to find one of his partners, Leland, dead, his brother Coigne gone, and his third partner, Coley (Will Hutchins) holed-up in a nearby cave. Soon, a mysterious woman (Millie Perkins) materializes out of nowhere and offers Gashade a huge sum of money to guide her on a journey he soon realizes is a manhunt.
The quirky screenplay is by Adrien Joyce, the odd pen-name of the brilliant screenwriter Carole Eastman who wrote the acclaimed "Five Easy Pieces" which also stars Nicholson.
What "The Shooting" is actually about is anybody's guess. It has been called an existential western, or anti western. The super low-budget enforced a minimalist, almost surrealistic style that is terrific and timeless. The stark outdoor locations add immensely to the mood and of this this strange, enigmatic story that seems to reflect mid 60's paranoia and disillusionment.
Since their initial release, both films, though seldom seen, have become critical favorites, and have attained cult film status here and in Europe. Both discs include an entertaining and revealing commentary by director Monte Hellman and actor Millie Perkins with additional informed commentary by American Cinematheque programmer Dennis Bartok.
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