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Undescribable Perfection

Good concept, poorly executed.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

THE SHOOTING is a very low budget American western directed by cult favourite Monte Hellman, a former Roger Corman man. This features Will Hutchins and Warren Oates in the lead roles, playing a couple of cowboys who are employed by the pretty Millie Perkins to guide her across an arid desert landscape in pursuit of a fugitive.This entire film consists of a handful of characters, their horses, and the harsh Utah landscapes. The desert setting is very well realised and Hellman shoots it in an active way. A pity, then, that the plotting is so slim and long-winded; very little happens en route aside from a lot of bickering, and the supposed twist ending is more head-scratching than anything else.This film is chiefly of interest for featuring Oates before he became a big film star in the 1970s in the likes of BADLANDS and BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA, and he still has that laidback charm. Also on hand is Jack Nicholson, here producing as well as taking the role of a slick gunslinger. Hutchins adds sympathy as the simpleton, but the real stand-out is Perkins whose driven character prefigures similar roles in the likes of HANNIE CAULDER and TRUE GRIT.

"The Shooting" is about the futility, the destructive, and the self- destructive nature of revenge. It's a story about how one person's single minded obsession can involve others and destroy them as well. When you seek revenge, or aid others in seeking revenge, you can destroy yourself and those around you. It's also a story about how difficult it can be to avoid getting involved in an enterprise that you know is going to be trouble, but circumstances just don't allow you to avoid it. You get sucked in.The woman will go to any lengths to kill the person who perhaps killed someone close to her (her husband and child? perhaps accidentally? we don't know the circumstances). She will enlist anyone she can any way she can. Simple-minded Coley is sucked in by her domineering attitude and her attractiveness. Will goes along for the easy money and to protect his friend Coley, not realizing the true nature of the mission (that the person she is chasing is actually Will's brother, the twist at the end). Billy Spears is a killer who would follow the woman just for kicks. People question if they all die, but whether they all die or not, they will never be the same. Coley is dead. Will lost his best friend (Coley) who was "dependent" on him. He also may have lost his brother (probably). He also lost his other partner back at the mine. And, he may have died at the end himself. Even if Billy doesn't die in the desert, his shattered gun hand will force him to find a new profession (and change his attitude, since he can no longer back up his arrogance with his gun). Perhaps the fact that he is walking alone in the desert at the end means that the others are dead, and that he will die soon as well, but does it really matter? All of their lives were destroyed due to the woman's obsession with revenge. She rode all the men and the horses to death in her obsessive quest for revenge (whether it was justified or not). Perhaps in the final scene, when Warren Oates sees his brother (himself) he is realizing the impact that this quest has had on him. He has destroyed himself.

Willett Gashade (the late, great Warren Oates) and Coley Boyard (Will Hutchins) are two cowboy associates, hired by a mysterious young woman (Millie Perkins) who refuses to give her name. The assignment, ostensibly, is to travel with her to a faraway town, but she's clearly got an agenda that bemuses them. The stakes get raised when a newcomer joins them on the journey: a hired gun named Billy Spear (Jack Nicholson), who similarly chooses to be rather cagey.Under appreciated filmmaker Monte Hellman is just one of many who began his career working for the legendary Roger Corman. With Corman as the (uncredited) executive producer, and Nicholson and Hellman as producers, this was filmed simultaneously with another indie Western, "Ride in the Whirlwind", but released separately. It's a very spare film, with a minimum of major roles, and it's one that takes full advantage of some strikingly desolate locations.Carole Eastmans' screenplay takes great care not to spell everything out for the viewer, although by the end it's not too hard to connect all the dots. The result is an intelligent, meticulously made film with a very enigmatic, and atmospheric, quality about it. Performances are superb from the star quartet. Oates has a quietly powerful presence. Hutchins is very animated and engaging. Some fans of the film don't care for Perkins, but this viewer feels that it's actually a testament to her ability since her character is clearly not trying to be likable; he can see that she's bearing some sort of grudge. And the young Nicholson, still a few years away from achieving genuine stardom, shows off that charisma that always served him so well. The ending, a slow motion shoot out among some rocks, is very stylishly done.This is very much essential viewing for fans of the cast and director.Eight out of 10.

Willet Gashade (Warren Oates), a former bounty hunter, returns to his small mining camp after a lengthy absence and finds his slow-witted friend Coley (Will Hutchins) in a state of fear. Coley explains to Gashade that their partner, Leland Drum (B. J. Merholz), had been shot to death two days before by an unseen assassin. Also starring a young Jack Nicholson.In 1964, Monte Hellman and Jack Nicholson had made two films together, "Back Door to Hell" and "Flight to Fury", which were produced by Roger Corman and filmed back-to-back in the Philippines. This film was very much in the same vein, this time shot back-to-back with "Ride in the Whirlwind". Nicholson's history with Corman is well-known, but Hellman's career also came from Corman. His first directing gig was "Beast from Haunted Cave" (1959), a Corman film, which was followed up with an uncredited stint on "The Terror" (with Nicholson). In fact, Hellman did not really blossom outside Corman's domain until "Two-Lane Blacktop" (1971).The film was written by first-time screenwriter Carole Eastman, who would soon write "Five Easy Pieces", another Jack Nicholson vehicle (and much later the Nicholson film "Man Trouble"). As with many involved, she was a Corman veteran, having been responsible for the music in Corman's "Creature from the Haunted Sea" (1961).It was not until 1968 that the U.S. distribution rights were purchased by the Walter Reade Organization, the same company that distributed "Night of the Living Dead" (1968). No other domestic distributor had expressed any interest in the films. Walter Reade decided to bypass a theatrical release, and the two titles were sold directly to television. In retrospect, it seems bizarre that this film fell into obscurity, but who could have predicted Nicholson's rise to stardom?