Hombre (1967)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Written by Irving Ratevich and Harriet Frank, Jr.
Directed by Elmore Leonard
Starring Paul Newman, Fredric March, Richard Boone, Diane Cilento, Cameron Mitchell and Barbara Rush

Features:

• Behind the Scenes Still Gallery
  
• Some trailers
  

Released by: 20th Century Fox.
Rating: NR
Region: 1
Anamorphic: Yes.

My Advice: Rent it.

John Russell (Newman) is a white man who was brought up on an Apache Reservation. He loves the people who raised him very much, however, the Apache are seen by the other white people as brutes. Russell learns that he has inherited an old boarding house from his biological father, and so he decides to trade the house for dozen or so head of horses. He catches a stagecoach and heads to pick up his horses, but along the way, the other people on the coach find out he's basically Apache and make him ride on the top of the coach with the driver. Then, the coach gets robbed for the money that one of the passengers is carrying with the help of one of the passengers, a man named Grimes (Boone). To add insult to injury, it turns out the money that was stolen was already stolen to begin with, and originally belonged to the Apache people. Now that the passengers are stranded out in the harsh western desert, they are forced to rely on the knowledge and skill of Russell to protect them from the band of outlaws, not to mention unforgiving Nature.

The movie is well a well woven story and Newman is very hard and cold in his role of Russell. Don't get me wrong: that's exactly what the role calls for and Newman does some amazing stuff with this role. His focus is stunning. There are several shots where there's only a close up of his face and his baby blues are the only things available to tell the story...but he doesn't miss a beat. The other cast does a fine job of supporting him in this role, with one exception: Richard Boone as Grimes. And that's just because Boone is a principal player as well. He plays the part of the bad guy to a T. In fact, he's so bad that I found my stomach firming up as though I were about to be in a fight whenever he came on the screen. He's just that believable.

This movie could have been phenomenal had this cast had a better script to work with. Russell is the kind of character that is so cold, you can't really like him, but you do want him to win. I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll try my best not to tell you whether he does or not, but let me just say that I was disappointed. The story starts out great as a kind of pseudo-hostage drama, but then it gets bogged down in a plot device that just stalls out. Honestly, I liked the movie until it ended and then I just felt let down.

I wish I could tell you that the DVD makes up for what the movie lacks, but I can't. There are really only two things that can be talked about as special features on this one: a behind the scenes gallery and four trailers. The behind-the-scenes gallery is better than you would expect, but is still not stellar. Some of the pictures look like they might have been taken with one of the cast member's Instamatic. There is a real sense of being allowed to see what honestly goes on behind the scenes of a movie. It's just a shame that there are only ten pics. The other stuff on the DVD are trailers for this feature and three others; Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Hustler, and The Verdict. The only thing they have in common is Newman. It's just a waste. Granted, I don't think the film marks any huge cinematic achievement, but it's just a shame they couldn't get Newman to sit down behind a microphone for a while to record a commentary. I don't want to sound like I'm digging his grave, but he's not getting any younger. If we are not careful, we are going to lose all the fantastic stories that he's got in his head before he shuffles off this mortal coil. Alack...

So, rent this one. The movie is good enough to be seen once, but not good enough to keep on your shelf forever.