Tom Horn, O Cowboy

This is unfairly forgotten western from the decade were western were slowly dying until the 1985. " Tom Horn" deserves more praise , since this is a good western and one of last movies of Steve McQueen. It's his last good movie.

The movie is full of brilliant dialogues. I don't remember when was the last time I have seen a movie where almost every exchange is intelligent and funny. The movie is worth watching for the dialogues alone.

The story is a little predictable , but the movie is well directed by William Wiard and grips you from start to finish. I felt sad at the end and that was the whole point.

The movie made me sad , because it was not only the goodbye to Tom Horn, but also to Steve McQueen ("Papillon") . Both were heroes from the past that were slowly dying in a changing world that didn't need them. McQueen did make one more movie after this one , but for me this is his good bye. A good movie and a great farewell to wonderful actor.

I give it 7/10.

As a McQueen fan I was somewhat disappointed in the film, but at the same time McQueen was ill, but proved that he could stick with a project to the finish. At least this version was more realistic than the David Carradine version "Mr. Horn", which was released in 1979. McQueen's version had a little more historical integrity than the latter version, and was more committed to telling the truth.

McQueen was always a physical actor, and especially in private as one of Bruce Lee's favorite Jeet Kune Do students, the others being James Coburn and Kareem Abdul Jabar. During the scene when Tom Horn escapes and is running from the deputies, I felt that McQueen was giving it his all, and that he knew his time was short, "so why not show the fans I've still got it?" The way he was gasping for air, and just gave up running made me think he wasn't acting, and however he felt after that take hurt me just the same watching it.

So let's not totally ignore what McQueen was trying to do. Even in "The Hunter", which was to go out in a blaze of glory. At that time in 1980, and his condition maybe that was the best he could give us. Still he gave of himself as an actor, an artist, and a professional right when the average guy couldn't, but we all know he wasn't the average guy. So let's give credit to "Tom Horn" where it's due, to it's star, who didn't want to let us down; by simply showing us he could still get in front of the camera and grace us simply with his presence.

Directed by William Wiard and based on a true story, "Tom Horn" opens in 1901, in Wyoming, where McQueen meets John C. Coble (Richard Farnsworth) who offered him to ease up at his place for a while… Tom accepted, but he said I'd to earn my keep…

Seeing Horn with great ability with a rifle, and after speaking with the Association, John asks him to eliminate the rustlers who have completely wiped out their herd profits not to mention what the buzzards and the predators have done to their cash crops…

But after one incident has disturbed the Association in town, and the rustling has stopped, they determined to get rid of Horn forgetting he was only doing what they hired him to do… Mc Queen plays well the Indian tracker "scared to death of lobster, the man of the West "afraid to lose his freedom and not be able to get back up in those hills again."

Linda Evans is appealing as the school teacher from Hawaii who saw a man of the Old West trying to live in the New…

Richard Farnsworth is the loyal friend John C. Coble who was quite sure that Tom never killed that kid… John advices him not to try to break out of the jail… He knows he can do it, but it's just admitting his guilt if he tries…

Billy Green Bush is the U.S. Marshal Joe Belle who asks the newspaperman to sit behind the door and write lying down what he hears real good…

Slims Pickens is the old Sheriff Sam Creed who arrested Tom…

With a legendary hero, great photography and good direction "Tom Horn" is very good Western to watch

Tom Horn is directed by William Wiard and adapted to screenplay by Thomas McGuane and Bud Schrake from Horn's own autobiography. It stars Steve McQueen, Linda Evans, Richard Farnsworth, Billy Green Bush and Slim Pickens. Music is by Ernest Gold and cinematography by John A. Alonzo.

Plot finds McQueen as legendary army tracker - turned hired gun - Tom Horn, who is hired by Wyoming ranchers to see off cattle rustlers, only to see them turn against him when his methods threaten their reputation.

As a big fan of both Westerns as a genre and McQueen (in the process of getting the cancer that would kill him) the actor, it's tricky trying to review Tom Horn (and his final film "The Hunter") without the heart ruling the head. Fact is, is that Tom Horn is not the glorious hard hitting Tom Horn picture that the character demands. It looks fabulous, is very melancholic, and McQueen is genuinely affecting in his performance, but the production problems (various attached directors, rewrites etc) are evident and give us a film of what might have been.

Nonetheless, this is no stinker, in fact, it's a very reflective piece dealing with a man out of his time - and he knows it. The narrative is strong on the end of the so called Wild West, a changing of the times, where law and order is about to finally become the dominant force. Horn was the man who helped bring in the mighty Geronimo, which gives the makers a chance to not only nod towards respect for the great Apache chief as a plot device, but to also let Horn, in McQueen's hands, show us a resignation of time being up for his kind.

One dodgy "special effect" aside, when the violence is required for the story it is an adrenaline jolt, this is because the tone of the piece is ultimately sombre. The hazy romantic thread between Horn and Glendolene Kimmel (Evans is fine in a thankless role) is suffering from flashback overkill, but the tender feel to it sits comfortably within the pic's earnest intention. The political aspects strike the required chord for narrative worth, and the key aspect of Horn's ultimate fate being based on fact or otherwise? is deftly handled.

Poor editing and a number of "time filling shots" grate a little, and if not prepared for a sombre pic then this will disappoint. Yet there's a lot of beauty here and if you be a fan of McQueen or not, his turn is brave, committed and very engaging. 7/10

My wife thinks this movie is a dirty portrayal of the West. Historians will argue about Horn and the events that happen in this film, but I like it. Do not watch the edited tv version, to get the real brutal feel of this film rent it. It is a good portrayal of how dirty and nasty the frontier really was. The end suits this film very well, and if my wife can watch an entire Western the film is well done.