George Sherman's Big Jake is about as pure a John Wayne vehicle as has ever existed. When a vicious gang of outlaws kidnap a young boy known as Little Jake, his estranged grandfather, Big Jake McCandles, sets out to rescue him and bring the villains to justice...frontier justice. Big Jake is competent enough as a Western, mixing a great performance by Wayne, gritty action, and a satisfactory story concerning family and redemption. But the film didn't leave a very big impression on me otherwise. I am writing this review sixteen days after watching the film (don't judge me, I've had graduate school finals) and I am having a difficult time recalling anything other than the general plot outline. I have seen other Wayne vehicles that have left incredible impressions on me after only one viewing. It's been months since I first watched John Farrow's Hondo (1953), but I remember that film quite vividly, particularly the scene where Wayne broke an untamed horse. I remember the sheer brutality of the violence in Howard Hawk's El Dorado (1966), the high-spirited humor and massive fist-fight in Andrew V. McLaglen's McLintock! (1963), and even Wayne's brief yet extraordinarily powerful cameo as the war-weary Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman in How the West Was Won (1962). Yet, for the life of me, I cannot remember much of Big Jake. But that's probably my fault. I'll give this film another look one day. But for now, I'll just give it a passing grade and call it a day.
6/10
0 Yorumlar