L'indien

The sentiment is appreciated but not the execution. The ongoing plight of the Native American is the worthy subject but having the key roles played by whites was the usual Hollywood BS and comes across as exploitative and stereotyped. Quinn was a great actor but his drunken bear of a man routine wears out fast, as it did in A Dream of Kings.

Have you ever read a book, then seen the movie, and wonder-How did they screw it up so bad? This is one of those. The book by Huffaker, "Nobody Likes a Drunken Indian" was great, riotously funny...this movie is not. It seems as though nobody cared enough to move the direction along so we CARED about the characters. This movie, which touches on some real concerns about Indians, makes you wonder why we haven't seen more comedies about the holocaust, or slavery. Not well done.

It's been a few years since I've seen "Flap," and admittedly the memory is perhaps a little fuzzy in places. Though I've never read Huffaker's "Nobody Likes a Drunken Indian," the movie still stands out as a character study which needed to be told. Showing both sides of life on a remote, post-war reservation, its characters displayed bits and pieces of people I've known on and around a nearby reservation in this region. Also, the destruction of the bulldozer, subsequent bender with its owner, and the theft of a railroad car provided much needed moments of comedy to the ever present backdrop of the plight of the natives. Though few are likely to have heard of this movie, and though I've heard it is currently out of print, I feel it is long overdue for a remake and yes- some improvements. Still, it's one of those films that is well worth a look. -Chuck

I remember seeing this movie as a boy at the Intermountain Indian School in Brigham City, Utah. I thought it was a very good movie. It kept me laughing (like the book) for years. I still think of this movie and laugh on occasion. At the risk of sounding like I don't care (but being part Osage) I would like to say that the Native American uprising on the 70's (and in part fueled by getting the native plight out to the general population which this movie did) worked! The Native American Nations (at least the ones with any motivation) are prospering. The Osage have Oil on the res. Most reservations now have gaming on them that draw money to the res. Anyone that talks of the plight and whines of the times as they are now should try to become a quiet old man. I await the re-make of this fine film!

This movie shows somewhat of an Indian resistance movement before the American Indian Movement of 1973. I never read the book "Nobody Loves a Drunken Indian", but it sounds like a good book. It was probably better than this movie. This movie might have been better with more Indian actors in it, but, then, would it have had enough star power to attract viewers? Now for the movie: I remember a 1940s Chevrolet truck in it. There was a horse that was hard to ride with a saddle on it. An Indian destroys a white man's bulldozer, but later some Indians get together with the owner for a bender. It seems the Indians had an old deed or treaty that gave them title to the land under a city. Seems like maybe the city was Phoenix. Some Indians go to the city to serve notice. Will they get very far?