The Cowboys

We haven't been to a theatre since "The King's Speech," so we'll be reviewing our Netflix choices for awhile. I'll start with last night's viewing of "The Cowboys." I wonder whether it's worth the time to list all of the flaws in this movie? I know that for many, it is blasphemy to utter any criticism whatsoever of any of the Duke's movies, but it must be done.
Whatever the weaknesses of the film, the performances were not one of them. Wayne, Dewhurst, Brown, Dern were all as good as ever. Most of the boys turned in adequate if not stellar performances.
However, what might have been a thoughtful, heartwarming, and exciting coming of age adventure rapidly degenerated into a shallow, bloody and violent celebration of the American myth of "man as killer." Rather than becoming men as the result of struggling with themselves, as they learn the meaning of duty, responsibility, and loyalty, and with nature, they become "men" by strapping on guns and killing other men in order to exact revenge. We are meant to cheer them as they deal "frontier justice" to a dozen outlaws, finishing off the last one in a particularly brutal manner. I wish that I could believe that the filmmakers had wanted us to be sickened by the effect of the violence on the young men, but it is quite clear that we are meant to see them as heroes.
Although this is the primary weakness of the film, there are others. The plot is utterly contrived, relies too heavily on coincidences, and is episodic. We can just believe that every single able-bodied male in the county has run off to the gold fields and that boys of 13 would be rounded up to fill out an outfit, but it is asking a lot for us to accept that the parents of pre-pubescent males would send them off in the company of other boys only a few years older, and only two adults.
The boys encounter a traveling brothel, which apparently has set up alongside a stream in the middle of the wilderness on the off chance that a cattle drive will just happen to pass by. While Colleen Dewhurst makes the most of her 15 minutes, it is a cameo, not a starring performance. Her statement that "The first time should be in the backseat of a buggy with someone he thinks he loves" is hardly authentic to the period. Buggies don't have backseats.
As soon as we see Bruce Dern we know that he will show up again later as the villain -- and he does. Poor man was terribly typecast in the 70s. He is, of course, without any redeeming features whatsoever, within the stark dichotomy of the film. We must accept him as the epitome of evil in order for us to endorse the boys' acts of vengeance. Given the genuine hardships -- up before dawn, riding all day in the blazing sun or pouring rain, standing watch at night, living on beans and biscuits, sleeping on the ground, the smell of the cows, the horses and each other -- and dangers of the trail -- stampedes, river crossings, snakes, wolves and coyotes stalking the herd, horses stepping in prairie dog holes and breaking a leg, etc. -- his character is unnecessary, as well as historically inaccurate. By and large, cattle rustlers stole mavericks and calves from the open range, not an entire herd on the move. Yes, I understand that he saw his opportunity to take this herd from Wayne and the boys; that's one of the reasons I call the movie contrived.