The Shooting (1966)

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Mysterious woman (Millie Perkins) hires two men, former bounty hunter Willet Gashade (Warren Oates) and his slow witted friend Coley (Will Hutchins) to accompany her to a town located on the other side of the desert. The group is followed by slick gunslinger (Jack Nicholson) who seems to want to kill them all. The woman never says her name or why she's following someone. For some reason, she is out for revenge.The story is quite simple with some not so obvious twists. There isn't much backstory of the characters and not much dialogue, but actors (especially Warren Oates and Jack Nicholson) fill the parts enough substance to make them interesting. Millie Perkins is also good as a woman who is targeted only to complete her mission without showing any remorse or sympathy towards her companions. It is very easy to start hate her. The slow burning tension is in the air throughout the film when characters battling with desert and with themselves. The haunting musical score lays the veil of never ending threat over the head of Willet and Coley.'The Shooting' has been called Kafkaesque western, existential western and the very first acid western. I agree with all these statements. Thanks to well balanced and wonderfully composed tracking shots and disorienting close-ups together with mystery the 'The Shooting' feels more like a (acid)trip. Revenge story works on many levels because there aren't much exposition - the motives of all the main characters remain hidden until the very last minute of the film. The film tricks us even with its climatic but ambiguous abrupt ending that is much more straightforward when to think about it - one of those rare moments where confusing ending actually answers to more questions than it raises.

Monte Hellman and Nicholson tried make something different in this dry western where has a always fine Warren Oates on an outstanding performance,in other hand Millie Perkins as a mysterious girl who came from nowhere and no name and later appear a gunfighter and all them in pursit the unknown killer.....the final scene has a enigmatic ending,missundertood maybe....but a unique certanly!!!Resume:First watch: 2018 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7

Definitive Cult Film. It languished in Obscurity for Years. The Film never received a Theatrical Release Until 1971. It was a Low-Budget ($75,000) Movie with the help of an Uncredited Roger Corman.All four Actors give believable, Edgy Performances with Warren Oates, Jack Nicholson, Will Hutchins, and Millie Perkins delivering Dialog that smacks of Western Slang along with Gritty Insight and Existential Exuberance.Nothing on the surface is Clear and the Dusty Terrain adds to the Obscurity. In Fact, the Location settings are Stunning in the Sun Bleached Bleakness. Because of its Miniscule Budget and apart from any Studio Interference the Filmmakers were able to Experiment with an Odd and Against the Grain Western Template.It is a Thinking Man's Horse Opera with the four footed Creatures playing a Significant and Symbolic Part. The Movie's parts seem to Come Together in an Off-Kilter sort of Existence where Nothing is Certain and everything Unfolds at a Pace fitting its Stifling Surroundings.Overall, the Ending is one of those that is Ambiguous at First glance, but more Contemplative Viewers will Definitely have Diversified Opinions. Considering what was there to work with it remains an Artsy, Offbeat, and certainly Divisive Western. But the Talent Behind and In Front of the Camera is such that it Cannot be Overlooked or Ignored.

Monte Hellman directed this strikingly unique, original, yet experimental western that stars Millie Perkins as a mysterious woman with no revealed name who hires two cowboys named Willit & Coley(played by Warren Oates & Will Hutchins) to track down a man for mysterious reasons, though it appears to be Willit's brother who may have been involved in an accidental death with another cowboy who is later shot dead. Jack Nicholson costars as a cold-blooded gunfighter assisting the woman in the hunt, which leads them to the barren hot desert and a surprise ending, which will no doubt either intrigue or infuriate the viewer, but fine acting and direction keep it on track, especially by Perkins.