The Big Country
Director: William Wyler
Year Released: 1958
Rating: 2.0
Sophisticated pacifist Gregory Peck goes out West with fiancé to live, but it turns out that she's living in a primal world with wild horses and vengeful families (not unlike the fabled Hatfield's and McCoy's) where he (and his hat!) is viewed upon as an erudite curiosity and considered 'weak' and 'cowardly' by the savages. His refinement, according to Wyler, is what frees West from its outdated thinking and cowboy code; the last thing the world needs are lynch mobs and civil wars. But the picture runs on forever, armed with an inexcusable running time of three hours (where a little over half that would have sufficed) and with a massive wide screen scope: the scenery's majesty threatens to engulf the petty bickering of its inhabitants, and makes their predicament seem most insignificant.
