Customer Reviews

Hombre

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

Whenever Paul Newman and Director Martin Ritt("Hud", "The Outrage") team up for a western it's pure magic. "Hombre" is a shining example of that.Western lovers will love this film. And if you already know you love it, you'll be thrilled with the DVD.
As the story opens we see an Apache Indian, quiet, crouching behind a rock,eyeing the horses that will soon be his. This Apache though is different from the rest. He is a blue eyed Indian. A white man raised by the Apache, outcast from the world he was born to. He is HOMBRE! He is his own man.
After word comes to him that he has inherited a boarding house from the man who once tried to raise him and gave him his name, John Russell, he sells it. cuts his hair and embarks on a stagecoach trip. Some of the other passengers are outraged when they learn of his upbringing, and don't even want him inside the coach with them. But the stagecoach runs into trouble,overtaken by outlaws.
They are left in the desert to fend for themselves against the outlaws and the elements. He may be their only salvation. Will he help the people that outcast him, and if he does at what cost to him?
The cinematography gives that pure western feeling.The music score by David Rose is moving.The story based on a novel by Elmore Leonard is gripping.Paul Newman IS HOMBRE! Richard Boone is the baddest of the bad guys as only he can portray it. The cast also includes, the great Fredric March as the theiving Indian Agent, Barbara Rush as his biggoted wife,and Martin Balsam as Russell's only allie, and the driver.
The DVD is a real treat.Beautiful widescreen, sharp clear pictures of the rugged terrain.Vivid colors. The sound is surprisingly crisp(I love the sound of horses hooves) in the Dolby Surround 2.0 stereo. The muscial score terrific. Dialouge was clear although a little low at times.The special features include a Still Gallery of photos taken during the shoot, some theatrical trailers for other Newman movies, and there are subtitles in English or Spanish if needed. There is also a French version.
For a great western, great drama,and well just plain great Newman,check this one out!.........Laurie

3/09 update:The Outrage is finally available on DVD

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

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.

A magnificent dramatization of a self-reliant egoist struggling to exist in a world of altruists, parasites, racists and pragmatists. The parasites (Grimes and the other outlaws) try to kill Hombre (also known as John Russell) physically; the pragmatist (Mendez) tries to convert him into a go-along-to-get-along, subservient type, trying to kill his ambition; the racists (the Favors, who are also parasites, and a couple of the minor outlaw characters) treat him like dirt, assaulting his self-esteem; and the altruists (Jessie Brown, and the young married couple) try to load him with a guilty conscience for the unforgivable sin of pursuing his own self-interest, his own happiness, to kill his spirit.

None of them succeed in changing him one iota. He goes down fighting, uncompromising. ...

Some great lines from the movie:

After not intervening on behalf of a victim of Grimes, and being berated for it by Jessie, Hombre says: "If it's all right with you, lady, I just didn't feel liking bleeding for him. And even if it isn't all right with you."

Jessie: "You mean you'd just let that (hostage) woman die?"
Hombre: "That's up to Grimes (the outlaw who held the woman hostage)." Hombre refuses to accept guilt for what is clearly Grimes' responsibility: the life of the hostage.

Jessie, after the stagecoach passengers are robbed, and are in a state of helplessness, speaking to Hombre: "Why do we keep trotting after you?"
Hombre: "Because I can cut it, lady."

Finally, Grimes comes up to "parley" with Hombre and the others trapped in an old mining shack. Hombre determines that Grimes has no right to any parley, as he was holding them there at the point of a gun. He therefore lets Grimes come out into the open and talk, and when he finishes talking, Hombre says:

"I got a question. How you gonna get back down that hill?" I leave it to your imagination as to what happens next. It was directly after that encounter when Jessie made this comment: "Cicero Grimes, meet John Russell."

HOMBRE is less a Western than an Arizona story. It is a bad White-man/good Apache story of Indian deprivation, well-portrayed by Paul Newman, supported by a no weaklink cast. Director Martin Ritt kept the whole thing in balance. Though the plot opened slowly as the characters developed, you soon realize that Newman was the guy for the Apache message--slow-to-burn from bigots' acid remarks, taciturn to a point of conceit, and equipped with only mot juste retorts. "Did you ever eat dawg, lady?" The story has a few humorous lines or occassions; eg. a little harmless voyeurism. It is primarly, however, packed with ample gun-slinging, cowards, rotten scoundrels, and an Apache hero, Newman. For directing, casting, and top-notch role-playing Hombre should rate at the top of Western movies.

The basic message of this film is that we should treat our fellow men based on their needs instead of on their merits. It's when the character John Russel realizes this, that he performs a truly unselfish act. Outstanding performances by Paul Newman, Diane Cilento, Richard Boone and Martin Balsam.

I love a movie that brings out the true nature of human beigns. I have seen it repeatedely through out my life, people usually tend to fall in with their own kind and self interests even if it flies in the face of all decency. Paul Newman does an outstanding job as the cynical, yet noble antihero. Truly, one of the best I have ever seen and really like to see over and over again.

I first saw this as a kid at a drive-in in the sixties (hey, my dad loved westerns - if someone was getting shot in the forehead, that was just fine with him) and have recently seen it again on cable. Nothing has changed my initial eye-opened response to it, only appreciated it like "Hud" and "Ride The High Country" even more, with the added maturity and understanding. It's hard, unflinching, the script and dialogue - with a delicious sense of dry, sardonic humour throughout - are first-rate, miles ahead of the other westerns of the time (and even today). The performances by a top-notch, hand-picked cast are as uncompromising and as naturalistic as you get, easily the best ensemble performance, top to bottom, I've seen yet in a western, including such worthies as "Ulzana's Raid" and "The Wild Bunch". The actors must have realized what they had, because this film brought out the best work in everyone. One caveat: the current, and only, release available is in the traditional "non-letter boxed" version, cropping all of the scenes and destroying much of director Martin Ritt's composition, especially in the great give-and-take scenes between Newman and Cilento. And my one great, unanswered question remains: why are'nt quality films like this, or "Ride The High Country" or "The Iceman Cometh" (with Robert Ryan OR Jason Robards) digitally remastered and available on DVD yet? (The Ryan version of "Iceman" isn't even available on VHS!) Meanwhile, every ridiculous, forgettable teen-age angst comedy under the sun gets immediately reissued - with DVD extras. An under-appreciated gem of both Newman's and Ritt's, and one of the best films of both men's careers. And, by the way, the ending makes perfect sense - real life, and human fraility and, ultimately, sacrifice, does resolve like that - unlike the movies.

This is a simple review of Hombre. It's just great. I would never miss it on TV even though I have the tape. One of Paul Newman's best parts, not to mention Richard Boone as the very, very bad guy. He makes me shudder every time. It's easy to hate the part played by Frederic March too.
Now to the question, when Newman shoots the first outlaw from the top of the stage coach, the blood seems to be painted onto the movie frame itself, NOT on the man getting shot. No one ever mentions this in any review or movie goof or Hombre trivia. Does anybody have any comments on this? It fascinates me every time!