There is a fallacy among some critics that good acting can make a bad script into a good movie. That depends on how bad the script is. This was a totally terrible script. I can comment that the actors did a great job, and Will Hutchins outshone everybody. Surprisingly, it was Nicholson who gave the worst performance, but thats because his character was nothing more than a complete ripoff of Jack Palance's gunslinger in "Shane," to every movement and mannerism. The story is bewildering, to say the least. The woman who hires Oates to find the person who accidentally killed what is probably her son or brother, leaves no doubt as to her madness in the desert. So it is insane to think Oates would have gone along with her, much less dragged Hutchins with him, without having extra horses and water. Nothing makes sense in the film, which was the obvious intention, but the characters don't make sense, either. Particularly in their initial decisions to make an insane journey. Everything is quite predictable and utterly depressing. There is no entertainment value in this movie, whatsoever. And nothing learned. Rips off images and scenes from better westerns, and leaves the viewer asleep. Bomb.
Review of The Shooting
