It seems like an odd choice to make a Western (albeit a 20th century-set western) after the paranoia trilogy of klute, parallax view, and all the president’s men. Pakula seems freed of the dark city and there are a lot of gorgeous long shots showing off the landscape photography (of Gordon Willis) here.
Like most of Pakula’s work it does feature a corrupt system of power- and Robards plays the evil patriarch very well- like he would do several times in his career (magnolia amongst others)
Nomination for Richard Farnsworth here- He’s excellent as is Jane Fonda and Robards—Caan isn’t bad just not as strong as the other 3
Fonda is superb at playing a bitch- sign of a very good actor
Not sure anyone has looked as natural chewing tobacco as Richard Farnsworth
There are a lot of exterior shots but also some gorgeous silhouette shots from the master of darkness dp willis here
It’s not at or near the top 10 of 1978 but it’s in my archives
Leave A Comment