The Sky Arts team of Ian Nathan, Derek Malcolm and Stephen Armstrong proudly proclaimed ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST as the "Number One Greatest Western Ever Made", with John Ford's THE SEARCHERS coming second... So I went into it with high expectations, determined to find out why it had been placed above Ford's 1956 masterpiece of tension and beauty... I came out of it, glad that I had finally seen it but puzzled why so many people loved it and why the Sky critics had rated it so highly. Alas, ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST proves to be one of those great cinematic letdowns...
I find it difficult to believe that the genius behind the Dollars Trilogy could come up with a movie this dull. I'm all for character development, but do I really need to stare at the fly on Jack Elam's cheek for what feels like half an hour? THE WILD BUNCH was about growing old and losing your touch with reality; SHANE was about the unspoilt innocence of youth and the eternal difference between right and wrong; THE ALAMO was about the price of freedom and the cost of war; and THE SEARCHERS was about redemption and love conquering hate... but after sitting through the 2:45 runtime of ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (that, by the movie's end, felt more like 5:45), I still can't tell you what it was really all about. Leone tries to be all things to all people and ends up completely losing the message of his film. There are moments of genuine movie magic, but they are broken up by long periods of the most unimaginable boredom. At the end of the day, I had to ask myself if it really was about anything at all?
A loveably roguish Jason Robards and a truly reptilian Henry Fonda shine in their roles along with the rest of this all-star cast, but there's not a grain of charisma to be found amongst any of them. Their monotonous speeches end up blending together, polarising their both their characters and the pace of the movie. And all the heavenly choirs and the breathtaking shots of Monument Valley can't save it from feeling bloated and more than a little pointless...
It was the best of films, it was the worst of films... Personally, I'm inclined to the latter rather than the former.
I find it difficult to believe that the genius behind the Dollars Trilogy could come up with a movie this dull. I'm all for character development, but do I really need to stare at the fly on Jack Elam's cheek for what feels like half an hour? THE WILD BUNCH was about growing old and losing your touch with reality; SHANE was about the unspoilt innocence of youth and the eternal difference between right and wrong; THE ALAMO was about the price of freedom and the cost of war; and THE SEARCHERS was about redemption and love conquering hate... but after sitting through the 2:45 runtime of ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (that, by the movie's end, felt more like 5:45), I still can't tell you what it was really all about. Leone tries to be all things to all people and ends up completely losing the message of his film. There are moments of genuine movie magic, but they are broken up by long periods of the most unimaginable boredom. At the end of the day, I had to ask myself if it really was about anything at all?
A loveably roguish Jason Robards and a truly reptilian Henry Fonda shine in their roles along with the rest of this all-star cast, but there's not a grain of charisma to be found amongst any of them. Their monotonous speeches end up blending together, polarising their both their characters and the pace of the movie. And all the heavenly choirs and the breathtaking shots of Monument Valley can't save it from feeling bloated and more than a little pointless...
It was the best of films, it was the worst of films... Personally, I'm inclined to the latter rather than the former.