Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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47 of 54 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
AN OVERLOOKED CLASSIC, January 29, 2003
This is a flat-out great western, even though often it is overlooked on many "Best" lists. It is existential, yet spiritual. It has action, but not too much. It focuses more on the interaction of its characters; the human condition. The cinematography by James Wong Howe, one of his last efforts, is crisp and expansive; shown magnificently on the DVD version. The score, by David Rose, is energetic and melodic. Director Martin Ritt made the most out of an unconventional plot with his powerhouse of a cast; and ultimately he filmed a picture that delivers a message without preaching. Paul Newman, a giant among actors, found something in his character, John Russell; a stillness, an incredible strength buried deep within honed survival skills, a quiet confidence, and ultimately a compassion for others. It is a very layered, compex, and brilliant portrayal. The supporting cast was excellent, surrounding Newman with talented adversaries and cronies. Diane Cilento, as Jesse, was willful, pragmatic, outgoing, yet still sexy; the earth mother of the piece. Richard Boone was the bad-to-the-bone Cicero Grimes; adding a new dimension to villiany. Yes he was mean, was a bully, was hard-as-nails, yet Boone still was able to show us an interesting man with deep shadows on his past; a gem of a performance. Fredric March, as the San Carlos Indian Agent, Mr. Favor, allowed us to dislike him, then pity him. He managed to dredge up a form of redemption out of the shoals of a potentially one-dimensional character. Martin Balsam found an odd humanity within his Mexican character, the stage driver Mendez; a man prone to compromise, a survivor. And in a small flashy part of a Mexican bandit, Frank Silvera made a tremendous impact. He helped us to like this brigand, and he shined with every gesture and line. Barbara Rush as Mrs. Favor, and Margaret Blye as the young Mrs. Blake, were both quite competent. One false note in the casting was Peter Lazer as Billy Lee Blake. Even with repeated viewings, his performance never improves. There is no real substance to it. He never managed to rev up his character to the level of those around him; like a Shetland pony competing in race with thoroughbreds. Cameron Mitchell and David Canary had great energy and smooth professionalism fused into their supporting roles. The most haunting moment of the film, what stays with you, is the death of John Russell. Newman had carefully established that this Hombre would not "bleed" for others. He was like a coyote bedding down with domestic dogs; an outcast. Yet it was his strength that all the others clung to in a crisis. So why, in the last gasp of the plot, would this hardened pariah suddenly sacrifice himself to save a woman who had demonstrated contempt for him ? We are left without a real answer, just a sweet sadness, and the awesome realization that we have witnessed some level of greatness.
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15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Greatest Western Ever Made, February 24, 2002
I am very surprised that "Hombre" is not available at major movie rental outlets or in DVD format. In my opinion, it is a masterpiece, the greatest western I've ever seen, and among the greatest films of any genre I've ever seen. I note, however, that AMC does feature this film from time to time, so somebody agrees with me somewhere.The film is perfect; without a wasted word of dialogue, stunning cinematography, brilliant acting and perfect editing. It is full of irony and is absolutely unpredictable. It is near to poetry on film as can be. It brings to mind every study of philosophy and Human nature that one has undertaken from high school through college and beyond, while at the same time being entertaining, amusing and thrilling. I will never forget Paul Newman's "John Russell," or Richard Boone's "Cicero Grimes," the two opposing forces of this film, with the uniquely essential characters of "Mendez" (Martin Balsam), "the Mexican" et. al. in between. A truly great film, in the opinion of one who has been driven to write only one movie review in his entire life; this one.
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Paul Newman's Ode to Self-Reliance, March 8, 2007
Some reviewers on this site have said that all the white people in this film are louts; that's not true. Unlike Dances With Wolves, where every white man other than Kevin Costner's character is a brute, a lunatic or a savage, in Hombre the characters have a great variety of virtues and faults -- admittedly, mostly faults, but they are not caricatures, and I don't see this movie as a liberal guilt trip by whites.
For example, Peter Peter Lazer as the ticket agent stands up to Cicero Grimes and enforces the rules of the stage company; that's an example of a white character in the movie showing integrity. Diane Cilento's character is frank and gritty and self-confident. She stands up to Grimes in the stagecoach, calling him on his lewd comments. It's her integrity at the end of the movie, her willingness to put her own life on the line for others, that makes Newman's character finally relent from his self-contained aloofness and face the outlaws.
Newman is generally described in these reviews as selfish and egotistical; I disagree. The scene in the bar where he clobbers a tough guy in a bar who's abusing Indians with the butt of his rifle, showed lots of courage and it was done for others who were not in a position to help themselves. (Western justice wouldn't help the Indians; they knew it, and Skip Ward and David Canary's characters knew they could get away with it.) I thought it showed a lot of guts on Russell's part. As a half-white he stood a better chance at justice; but then, he didn't rely on others to provide him with justice. That's one of my favorite scenes in the movie.
The scene in the ticket office when Richard Boone's character Cicero Grimes enters, sets the background for a number of important aspects of the characters of the people in the cast. Grimes starts off trying to bully Newman's character John Russell into giving up his ticket. Grimes licking his lips, the way a cat does when it's really ticked off and ready to explode, with the word "friend" on his lips, is incredibly intimidating. He even blows away a returning soldier, who can't stand up to him, played to a "T" by Larry Ward. Newman's character, on the other hand, seems to be enjoying it and isn't fazed by Grimes' intimidation. I wish that scene had played out a little longer -- I'd like to have seen how Russell would have eventually dealt with Grimes; but that dynamic was held off till the last scenes of the movie.
Newman was aloof in the ticket scene. He didn't reach out to help anybody else, and this sets the scene for who he is: A self-sufficient man, who assumes that everybody else can fend for themselves, too. That's why he doesn't jump all over himself to help others -- he assumes they're grownups and can take care of themselves.
Besides coming to the aid of the Indians in the bar, another scene where Newman's character reaches out to help people is when the stage is held up. On the one hand he says to the bandits that he's not a witness to anything. But as soon as he sees his chance, he grabs his rifle and starts shooting. That's another aspect to the character of John Russell -- he's ruthless with criminals. If they threaten his life -- he threatens or takes theirs. This trait was also shown when he banished Dr. Favor to the desert with no water -- after Favor attempted to leave everyone else without water. Even Dr. Favor said it was tough, but just. This trait of John Russell was also shown when Cicero Grimes came up the hill to have a palaver with the people he was holding hostage at gunpoint in the shack. Grimes in essence came up the hill under a flag of truce. None was waved, but that was the dynamic, and he assumed that the "rule" of the situation was that since he was coming to talk, nobody would harm him. But Newman's character wasn't buying into this hypocrisy. Cicero Grimes was threatening the lives of all of the people in that shack. His conversion to gentlemanly ways when it suited him was something John Russell didn't buy into. Newman's character saw his chance, and shot and seriously wounded Grimes. Boone's character Grimes understood, shown when he paid the grudging but sincere compliment "you've got a lot of hard bark on you." (Newman's character wasn't swayed by the compliment. He didn't care what other people thought of him, good or bad. He was independent outwardly and inwardly.).
Paul Newman has generally gravitated towards playing scoundrels in a lot of his movies, people with great flaws. But this role is my favorite of Newman's, of all of his movies. The message of his character that I take from the film is: be independent, be self-sufficient. People in general are namby-pamby, and his blunt self-sufficiency chases that out of the people around him; they rise to the occasion and become grownups. In this sense it is a true American movie, i.e. depicting something of the American character; or at least our mythic impression of ourselves. America over-does independence and individualism, and Hombre is a terrific example of it.
When Barbara Rush's character is staked out in the sun, her husband won't attempt to save her, and comes across as a selfish you-know-what. John Russell won't save her because he knows, as he says to the two women in the shack, that even if they give up the money, the bandits will still kill them all. He knows there is no way of saving the woman tied up in the sun, and he has decided to not attempt it. Not until, that is, Diane Cilento's character outdoes him in integrity. She offers, at significant risk to her own life, to take the money down the hill to the bandits, even though she knows how ruthless the bandits are. She wants to try to save Mrs. Favor. Newman's character can't let that happen. I don't think it's just because it's a woman showing him up. That's part of it, but I think that a careful read of his character shows that he pays his own way through life, and he abounds in integrity. John Russell can't let somebody else bail him out, and have a higher level of integrity than his own -- so he relents and walks down the hill. He does so only after protecting the financial interests of the Indians from whom the Favors stole the money -- again showing his willingness to reach out to help people. Granted, two of the instances in the movie where he extends aid to others, are helping Indians. But he did get the whites through the desert. They followed him because, as he said, "I can cut it, lady." And he did, and they survived because of him. I think these examples refute the characterizations of some reviewers that Newman's character is selfish and egotistical. Individualistic to a fault, sure; but not egotistical, and not selfish.
This is one of my top ten favorite movies, along with Gandhi, Patton, A Thousand Clowns, The Third Man, The Fallen Idol, A Man For All Seasons, and a few others (mostly good character studies of men). I've watched Hombre dozens of times, and have just bought the DVD and am waiting for it to arrive. I live a few hundred miles from where Hombre was filmed, and I've contacted the Tucson Film board to ask exactly where the Old Helvetia Mine is located, where the last scenes in the movie were filmed. I'd like to visit there. This is a great drama, and a very satisfying movie.
Brent Poirier, Las Cruces NM USA
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