Incannerax What a waste of my time!!!

Nonureva Really Surprised!

Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

milan_kovacevic-04 Now, it starts out alright...with the Rio Bravo tune :)Has a great plot, twists and character development, but booooy once it gets to the ending and its culminations it just turns into a romantic comedy, Jeniffer Aniston quility.All in all the ending is bad, just too bad to look at this again, or even as a masterpiece. Hence I gave it 6/10......only good for one watch.

sol- Disenchanted by his stubbornness during a grueling cattle drive, an orphan stands up to the rancher who raised him as his own in this iconic western starring Montgomery Clift and John Wayne. While contemporary film scholars often obsess over the homosexual subtext as Clift and co-star John Ireland compare guns ("maybe you'd like to see mine?"), the heart and soul of the film is the surrogate father/son chemistry between Wayne and Clift, how obsessed Wayne is with land, and how betrayed he feels. All of Wayne's innermost insecurities come out well in a speech about how he "can't live forever", wanting a son as someone to pass his hard-earned land/cattle on to. Usually a solid rock of machismo, Wayne is at his most heartfelt, and viewed for a third time, his performance comes across as magnificent. Not so impressive is Dimitri Tiomkin's score. It is atmospheric but also melodramatic at all the wrong times, especially during Wayne and Clift's shoot-out halfway in. Wayne's descent into sleep deprived madness also disappoints as we are told more than shown how he is losing his grip on reality. The film additionally has some pacing issues, but overall, it is engaging and stands up very well to repeat viewings with a tangible human drama element constantly elevating it above genre clichés. There are several fun moments of comic relief too, such as how one man takes an incredibly long time warming up to signing his name, only to then write an X on the document.

Tad Pole . . . to prate paeans of praise to some dying geezer (in this case, ancient RED RIVER director Howard Hawks) upon whom Bogdanovich could exercise his Mitch Albom brand of vulture interviewing (should you decide to view the 2014 Criterion DVD feature titled A FILM OF FIRSTS: PETER BOGDANOVICH ON RED RIVER prior to viewing one of the versions--that is, the longer "book" print or the briefer "voice" edition) of the 1948 feature film, RED RIVER). Bogdanovich, who proved with his supposed Classic THE LAST PICTURE SHOW that he couldn't SELECT--let alone DESIGN--a sexy brassiere to save his life, bad-mouths American genius Howard Hughes here simply because Hollywood Maverick and noted lingerie engineer Hughes was too sharp (even at the height of his madness) to grant the fawning sycophant Peter an interview. (Which, I guess, is a good thing, as it saves Civilization from listening to Bogdanovich rhapsodizing over "My Great Friend Howie's" bottled pee collection.) As mean-spirited as Peter Bogdanovich can get with anyone unavailable to add to his career roster of names-to-be-dropped, he does provide a fairly succinct comparison of the two versions of RED RIVER included in the Criterion set. But this constitutes about three minutes of a 17-minute piece, and the remaining time may seem like an Eternity to folks who've endured a few more of Peter's ubiquitous exercises of LOOK AT ME--I'M THE KID PHOTOSHOPPED INTO THE PICTURE!

Python Hyena Red River (1948): Dir: Howard Hawks / Cast: John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Walter Brennan, Joanne Dru, Mickey Kuhn: Western classic with a title that not only addresses an overwhelming cattle drive but it also symbolizes the survival of generations. John Wayne plays a stubborn cattle hand named Thomas Dunson whose wagon train is wiped out by Indians leaving a lone boy survivor. Several years pass and Dunson's successful rise of cattle and selling beef comes under threat when poverty strikes so he recruits several men to drive the cattle to Missouri where a chance to sell the cattle is promising. From here the screenplay becomes extremely episodic with a stampede caused by someone's idiocy. Eventually a division is caused when Dunson's leadership becomes too heavy handed and his cattle is overtaken. Howard Hawks captures the era but the climax is corny with its fistfight make up conclusion. Wayne is effective as the hard driven Dunson who demands commitment when a task is underway. Montgomery Clift is superb as the grown boy who will challenge Dunson's authority. Walter Brennan plays Dunson's partner through life. Only Joanne Dru is pathetic as a woman in love with Clift after an awkward meeting. Mickey Kuhn plays the younger version of what would become Montgomery Clift. Theme of generation works when the screenplay drowns in corny clichés. Score: 6 ½ / 10