WILD ROVERS
(PG)
MOVIE: ** (out of 5)
DVD EXPERIENCE: * (out of 5)
BY KEVIN CARR
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
William Holden and Ryan O’Neal play cowboys who decide to turn in their working gloves for a life of crime. They rob a bank but soon find themselves on the run from a persistent posse.
WHAT I LIKED
Over the past few years, I have enjoyed revisiting (or in cases like this, simply visiting) older films that came out while I was a child. I either never saw them because I was too young, or I saw them and didn’t get much out of them because I was too young.
“Wild Rovers” is such a film, offering a dose of old-time nostalgia from films long gone as well as giving me a feel for my childhood as its popular culture was captured on the screen. In particular, “Wild Rovers” is one of the last films to include an Overture and an Entr’acte with music. While these elements are completely out-of-place on a DVD presentation, they serve as a pleasant reminder of the filmgoing experience.
Unlike many westerns, this film doesn’t rely on gunfights and horse chases, though those elements do exist in the film. Rather, it’s a characters study that examines the father and son relationship between two cowboys and the consequences of their actions.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
I’m a fan of many of the people involved in this film, including director Blake Edwards. However, this feels more like his features from the 60s, which weren’t my cup of tea, than his later films of the 70s and 80s. “Wild Rovers” was made with a 60s-era feel to it even though it was released in 1971. These films are just lost on me as they don’t quite click with my sensibilities.
In short, I had the hardest time focusing on this pictures. Whether it was the writing or the directing, it just seemed to be a little aimless to me.
DVD FEATURES
Nothing but the film.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Fans of the westerns of the 60s and 70s.