The Cowboys

source: The Cowboys

Trailer—The Cowboys

The Cowboys

this is a terrific John Wayne western epic.it's the story of Wil Andersen(John Wayne)and the 11 school age boys he ends up hiring for a 400 mile cattle drive.it seems the cattle drivers he was going to use,left for green pasture.well,actually the chance for gold.anyway,Andersen and the boys encounter danger,excitement and adventure along the way.once again,i'm struck by the screen presence Wayne has,though i shouldn't be.this is Wayne in his mid sixties and he still commands the screen.i've seen a few of Wayne's westerns and have enjoyed each one so far.this movie is about 135 minutes,but i was glued to the screen the whole time.for me,The Cowboys is easily a 9/10

This is that is by far one of the finest Westerns ever made. The script is superb, with lines like Wayne's toward Bruce Dern, "I've broke my back once and my hip twice and on my worst day I could beat the hell out of you," classic Wayne. His performance is one of the most honest of his career. As his relationship with the boys grows it is both tender and tough. You get everything with this film. From the boys proving they belong on the drive to Rosco Lee Brown's magnificent counterpoint to Wayne. The cinematography is great and the music score outstanding. It embraces every aspect of the Western. Each time I watch it I find another reason to move it up the ladder in my list of favorites. It is truly the last of the great Westerns before the advent of such movies as "The Outlaw Josey Wales" and others forever changed the way Westerns were written and produced. It's an old school movie, but school was never any better than this.

This was one of the last films John Wayne made and it is one of his best. He really gets to act a little bit in this film and show that his Academy Award for True Grit was no fluke. Bruce Dern is one of the screen's best villians and he does a good job in this one. SPOILER ALERT He is one of the few men to shoot and kill the Duke on screen even though it isn't in a fair fight and he gets him in the back. I read that before they filmed this scene the director told Dern that people all over the world were going to hate his guts. The best line in this film is where John says "A big mouth does not make a big man".

Everything about "The Cowboys" works. It's a great looking movie with terrific music. The cast is also top-notch. They all give solid performances with standout work by Bruce Dern and Roscoe Lee Browne. Dern is one greatest villains ever. "The Cowboys" is almost as emotional as it is exciting. I've seen this movie a whole lot of times. It never fails to hit the spot.

Obviously, John Wayne had a long and distinguished career in the movies. Of course, he was merely playing himself time after time. In this movie, that works wonderfully well. He plays Wil Anderson, a man in his 60s with little else he can do but hire a classroom of boys to help with a cattle drive. This makes for a fun outing for anyone in any age group. Roscoe Lee Browne is well cast here. His scene with Colleen Dewhurst is very well played. Bruce Dern is great, too! My son, who is a big fan of "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones", pointed out the John Williams music in "The Cowboys"; it is very good indeed. "The Cowboys" is my choice for the movie to introduce people to John Wayne. It definitely makes you want to see more! Out of four stars, I rate it: ***.5