Unforgiven Review
After viewing a fair amount of Eastwood’s previous westerns (High Plains Drifter, Pale Rider, The Dollars Trilogy etc.), I had rather high hopes about this film. He not only stars in, but also directs Unforgiven to quality standards later demonstrated in classics such as Letters From Iwo Jima.
For starters, the plot is reasonably strong, the characters fully developed, and the suspense at times unbearable. A starry cast including Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris and Gene Hackman, not to mention Clint himself, propel Unforgiven into greater territory.
Following on from a brutal incident involving the knife slashing of a prostitute, a reward is offered to anyone who can track down the cowboy who committed the crime, and his partner. Aging gunslinger William Munny (Eastwood) teams up with old friend Ned Logan (Freeman) and the cocky, young Schofield Kid (Jaimz Woolvett) to kill the two men and collect the bounty.
Unfortunately for them, the town where the prostitutes are located is run by lawman “Little Bill” Dagget (Hackman) who forbids anyone to carry firearms into his town, as he has previously demonstrated by savagely beating English Bob, who previously rode in (and subsequently out) of town. Another unfortunate incident occurs near the end of the film, forcing Munny to return to his gun slinging ways for an epic, visually impressive final shootout.
All the characters are well acted and seem realistic, but I was most impressed by Richard Harris’ performance as English Bob, a rather posh and civilised character. This is an absolutely classic and thoroughly enjoyable western, with excellent portrayals of the characters, a worthy script and remarkable suspense sequences. Eastwood has clearly learnt a lot about westerns from previous years.
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