"The Resurrection of Broncho Billy" is a relatively long title for a fairly short movie as this one makes it only past the 20-minute mark with the ending credits. It was released back in 1970, so it will soon be half a century old. The director is James R. Rokos and he is also one of more people than you'd expect contributing to the script here. But the most known name here, also far more known than any cast members, is John Carpenter, who is credited here as a story writer. The main reason why this one isn't forgotten yet is thanks to Carpenter, who was only in his early 20s at that point, but also because the film managed to win an Academy Award back then. I guess this was not really because of good quality or anything, but because around the age of 1970, the western genre was beyond its peak in terms of both quantity and quality and clearly the Academy still loved it and wanted to help in resurrecting it. The only real moments when this felt like a western are near the end though, where we also get a bit of romance. Everything before that is fairly mediocre and undefined genre-wise. The protagonists affection for western heroes is not enough to carry it through to audiences. All in all, I was not too well-entertained seeing this one, so sadly, even if here and there we get a good moment, I have to give it a thumbs-down and suggest you skip it. I would not even recommend it to western film fans as I count myself as such too. Maybe Oscar historian can give it a go, but they should not expect too much in terms of acting, story and style. Underwhelming.
Cannot breathe life into the western genre again, even if the Academy wants us to think otherwise
25 January 2018
Warning: Spoilers