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Sorry, this movie sucks

As Good As It Gets

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Anything with Audie Murphy in it is worth a look-see so right there and then it is worth watching for that. We get a glimpse of the Wild West only more tamed but still a ways to go with people in town consisting of two factions; the respectable and the not so respectable. True to life depicting the hard ship and the rewards of living on the frontier in the later stages of its development toward becoming more civilized. Murphy plays a character that is peaceful, has virtue and wants to do right and hurt no one and it works but we are also pleased to find out he has boundaries too. As usual, we got horses, mules, trappers, Indians, gun-play, good guys, bad guys and a love interest. Some tender scenes with some mild violence and of course a happy ending to make it all go down just right. As Westerns go, this is not a stand-out or even a good word of mouth movie but an okay time spent if you do watch. Get a sandwich, a drink and settle in.

a gentler movie than most of Audie Murphy's westerns - he's a gosh-darn hillbilly man - who meets a plum dirty hillbilly girl - and cain't see thru the messy hair & filthy clothes to her Sandra Dee appeal - but at the town where they come to trade their furs - the sheriff there does see it - while the hillbilly boy is a smitten by the lady dressed in scarletthis was never gonna be a great movie - but it weren't even average - the story didn't generate any tension cuz of the long dry scenes - and cuz everything was so predictablethe chemistry between Audie and Sandra Dee showed considerable promise - while Gilbert Roland almost steals the movie as the suave latino sheriff

One reason the old TV sitcom I Dream of Jeannie remains popular is that it keeps us yelling at our screens: "Major Nelson, you idiot! Can't you see that Jeannie is totally gorgeous and is hooked on you? You can make any wish. What are you waiting for?" We wonder if he'll ever wise up. A similar plot element drives this innocent yet sometimes wise story, made in a happily more naive time than today, and depicting a time and place even more so. About half-way through this movie, I angrily thought somebody should compose a sarcastic plot synopsis that begins: "A blind, gay, castrated, autistic mountain man is accompanied on a journey by a beautiful blonde nymphet..." But then I realized that the filmmakers had hooked me in precisely the manner they meant to. Sandra Dee does an excellent job as Rosalie. And at a dewy and budding 17, she is very attractive, modern society's scolding admonitions that teenage girls cannot possibly be appealing to normal adults notwithstanding. This movie's heart is in the right place. Some of the characters are perhaps a bit archetypal and cliché, but that is part of the charm and fun of it. See it if you get the chance.

Odd little films like THE WILD AND THE INNOCENT pop up from time to time and one has to wonder what brains trust bankrolled it. Surely it was the high-roller from the backwoods who yearned to see a family sort of western with just a nasty touch of two older guys, 54 year old Gilbert Roland and 35 year old Audie Murphy, panting after 15 year old Sandra Dee. Or maybe it was some perverse producer who wanted to humiliate Murphy and dress him up as a sort of country bumpkin Stan Laurel lookalike. Still, there's a bit of harmless fun to be had here, especially if you are at a mountain top Drive-in with your best gal and a drop or two of moonshine to keep you company.