Superbly photographed against starkly impressive natural locations, this movie also boasts some effective action and stunt-work, but is undermined by the director's merciless TV style with its sluggish pacing and endless close-ups, plus a very talky script that still manages to skimp on charisma and characterization. The presence of character stereotypes like Farnsworth (a Walter Brennan clone) and even Robards himself does not help. And while George Grizzard is given a lot of footage in which to build up an interesting character, said character is then casually dismissed! All that build-up footage is virtually wasted and patrons will naturally feel cheated! Even the climax is short-winded, despite the fire. (An obvious dummy does duty for Robards). Jane Fonda's fans are also likely to feel cheated as she is not only unglamorously made up and photographed, but her acting is somewhat artificial. Caan walks through his role with his usual blankness. The movie does have a nice music score – what little can be hard of it through all the cattle stampedes and other sound effects!
Review of Comes a Horseman
