The Shooting (1966)

Directed by Monte Hellman. Starring Warren Oates, Millie Perkins, Jack Nicholson, Will Hutchins, B. J. Merholz, Charles Eastman. [G]

Existential acid Western with the trenchant yet scenic style of Hawks and the anarcho-despair of Camus. Deliberately indistinct puzzlebox plot follows a handful of presumably doomed individuals across the unsparing desert on an enigmatic quest to track down a wanted man; miner and ex-bounty hunter Oates and his half-witted friend Hutchins are joined by an unnamed, hostile woman (Perkins) and, later, a similarly belligerent and mysterious gunfighter (Nicholson). Director Hellman crafts elliptical artistry out of meager meals—this ultra-low-budget endeavor was produced on the quick and the cheap, back-to-back with Ride in the Whirlwind at Roger Corman’s behest—but even with the disarming performances (Nicholson probably wouldn’t have had to wait until Easy Rider to reach stardom if this flick got a proper release in the U.S. before he was already a household name in the early-70s) and a gob-smacking finale all-but-guaranteed to leave the viewer disoriented upon departure, it’s too much of a slow-moving, fatalistic mood piece to ever get around to expressing itself with true clarity and conviction. With the mesmerizing mood, I almost like it that way, but it’s held back from greatness, and needless to say, some viewers will appreciate it far more than others. Shot on Utah locations initially scouted by Hellman and Nicholson.

76/100