Bobster36

The usual, tired Jurassic formula of kids in jeopardy from dinosaurs and the grownups trying to save them and everyone else while some bad guy interferes. Chris Pratt is likable but one dimensional. He's the tough, fearless, no-nonsense hero throughout the film and we know little else about him. Vincent D'Onofrio, usually a very good actor, seems to be channeling Brian Dennehy as the predicable, one dimensional villain making a bad situation worse. Bryce Dallas Howard has the best part as a career company shill for JW, who never even got to know her nephews but must now risk her life to save them at the expense of the park she was so devoted to. The movie is pretty much non-stop dinosaurs fighting people and each other. With modern special effects being what they are these days, even that is becoming routine and not enough to save the stale story line. The movie can be mindless fun but nothing more.

This could have been a mediocre film about a dying gunfighter trying to go out in style. But John Wayne's performance elevated the script into something very special. For most of his career, Wayne played the same character in every movie. The names changed but the characters were always the same. But later in his his career, Wayne began to show that he had far more range than most movie fans knew. The Cowboys stands out as a breakout role for him. True Grit was Wayne as we had never seen him before. But I think he saved the best for last.

In The Shootist, Wayne is vulnerable, charismatic and touching. And while True Grit was a great role that demanded an over-the-top performance, The Shootist required a very understated performance of Wayne. Given his history of films, understatement would not seem to be in his repertoire. But he certainly pulled it off.

The film is much more of a character study than an action film. Once you accept that, the movie is riveting. The script is good, the veteran cast is accomplished. Ron Howard does a credible job, especially when he pulls the trigger at the end with the same steely-eyed look that Wayne's character had previously told him set shooters apart from killers. And when the film is over, you realize that you've just seen a remarkable acting job from someone who made a career out of being more of an icon that an actor. He wasn't even nominated, but I believe Wayne's performance was worthy of the Oscar for The Shootist.

For decades, we saw John Wayne as a Western film icon. But at the end, he left no doubt that he was a first-class actor whose skills took a back seat to no one.

This movie was so bad that by the time it was over I felt angry. The "good ol' country boys one-upping the city slickers" theme has been done so much that I guess there were no more intelligent ways to do it. So they came up with The Cowboy Way.

I generally like both Woody Harrelson and Kiefer Sutherland. And despite the weak plot, Sutherland does a good job with his role. But Harrelson employs every good ol' boy cliché ever imagined. Right down to the overbearing mush-mouthed twang in every word he utters.

The plot has our two good ol' countrified cowpokes going to NY City to rescue a girl from the big bad city slicker bad guys. In the process, Harrelson ends up at a posh fashion party. Naturally, the hostess is so overwhelmed by the charm of this rube that she hangs all over him while ignoring the rest of her well-to-do guests.

Of course, the good ol' cowpokes have a big ol' gunfight with the city slicker bad guys. And there are no legal ramifications. Ernie Hudson plays a mounted NY City cop. He is so enamored of the good ol' cowpokes that he abandons his patrol area to follow Harrelson through town on horseback. Later, he rides his horse INTO the police station shouting some blather about forming a posse. Later still, he gives away his horse and a horse of a fellow officer to the cowpokes so that we viewers can be treated to the sight of our good ol' boys galloping through NY City in pursuit of a train carrying the city slicker bad guys. Incredibly, after galloping all over town, the horses still have enough left to overtake the train. Also, incredibly, Hudson's cop is not fired for his bizarre and irresponsible actions.

And just to make sure the point is hammered home that the good ol' countrified cowboy way is superior to the city slicker way, our cowpokes save the day by employing their rope tricks.

This movie is so unbelievable that it seems better suited to a cartoon. Maybe a Heckle and Jeckle plot. If you're the type that just has to have that notion validated that the good ol' boys are always better than the city slickers regardless of how absurd the story is, then this one's for you. Otherwise, you'll find better entertainment in Heckle and Jeckle.