The Shooting
Director: Monte Hellman
Year Released: 1967
Rating: 2.0
A young woman appears to two cowboys and asks them to take her to a town where she can avenge the death of her husband and child - along the way, they meet up with a stranger dressed in black (Jack Nicholson) who toys with them. Horrible acting - mainly from Millie Perkins and Will Hutchins - and a purposely vague script lead to an unexpectedly obscure ending that's supposed to wash over the entire picture and make it seem brilliant in retrospect. It doesn't work, sadly, and feels more like an editing trick than a reference to the assassination of JFK or whatever it is theorists have come up with - it's almost as if Hellman had no logical way to end it, so he (as editor) had to manufacture an ending with the scraps of film stock he had and make it seem 'mysterious.' Just one Warren Oates is fine, thanks.
