Montford: The Chickasaw Rancher

I think this an accurate portrayal of a historical figure. It is nice to watch an unabridged story. The pain Montford and his family endured was hard to watch at times. I saw many Native American people that I recognized from around the area in the movie.

I read the history page for Montford T. Johnson, so that is all I know of the real character. However, the film was educational and enjoyable on a few levels, including as a history lesson and a better depiction of how black and red people interacted during those times, which is rarely seen accurately. Jim Crow changed a lot of relationships, but that was much later after reconstruction. The relationships between black, white and red people were often intertwined, and this film showed that well.

Because it was low budget, and possibly because they owed the actors the right to participate, some of the casting was really off and amateurish, like the hateful soldier, but I could look past that to understand the man better. The script could use a rewrite, but again, low budget.

One thing that was not shown, and that as in the history page for OK, was that Montford was sickly most of his life, which makes his accomplishments even more amazing! I'm grateful this was made so we can have a better view of our country and how it actually operated.

It's watchable. There's just enough good to slightly outweigh the bad. It's a passable ride

It's a bit melodramatic, the acting is inconsistent, the direction is not very good, the dialogue is anachronistc, but the story (true) is good, the cinematography is good, and it's an ok way to kill some time. I'm retired. I do that.

The ending is unsatisfying. If you're going to present a character in such a way that you're meant to HATE them, want them to suffer a slow death, etc., then show his comeuppance. There are a couple characters that need killin, but it's only insinuated that they get theirs.

It's not a multiple watch deal. I've seen Shawshank 7 million times. This isn't Ike that.

Good drama/action/historical movie. I was impressed by the dedication, perseverance, and patience of Montford, and how it pays off in the long run. As opposed to Dodgeball (the underdog reference), this is actually based on a true story, which I didn't know beforehand but confirmed with some google-ing.

The basic story about Montford: The Chickasaw Rancher is an exciting tale from the time when the West still was so called wild and there was a frontier to conquer. Typically and necessarily there are rustlers and indians involved, but this is based on true historical events about Montford Johnson, an influential half indigenous pioneer, his family, neighbours, friends and their struggles. The setting should be right for a thrilling and epic drama, but due to several factors the creators fail to realise its intensions. First of all it's hard to fully believe in the characters, like with Martin Senmeiser in the main role. Compared to the real Montford he's just too Hollywood handsome, and together with several of the cast, he neither looks like a poor starving and extremely hard working rancher in the 1870's. Many simply appear as modern people dressed up in oldstyle gear. Moreover, even though the villains got better and more dirty makeup, their wickedness is clearly exagerrated and there's an obvious overacting. Generally the performances aren't very impressive. However, there is an important sidestory, and letting the conflict between the indigenous peoples, settlers and the US Army have a more indirect role, where historical events and characters merely pass by as news, or certain people are coincidentally included as the storyline moves on. This may have a good intention, but even a crucial setting fundamental for the final is barely given any focus. Also, like with some peculiar timeholes in the basic plot, basic connections are't worked through well enough, and we never get to know the characters. Maybe this would be better off as a mini series, or at least a film longer than 95 minutes. A more creative building of characters, where the historical context got a more direct and intensional interplay, together with a more thorough screenplay and editing plan, this could have been a good historical western.