Few of the movies made late in John Wayne's were particularly outstanding (except for THE SHOOTIST). Instead, the stories often were interchangeable with many of his prior films and the supporting cast seem unable to keep up with Wayne. Well, this one isn't any better, though he has a little bit better support (such as Forrest Tucker and Ben Johnson). The plot and dialog is just too familiar and I HATE movies that feature real-life bandits (in this case Billy the Kid) because the way they are portrayed is so fictionalized and stupid. Billy (just like films that portray the James brothers and other real-life low-lifes), is noble and decent down deep and you see how he goes wrong,....yeah right! What a lot of hooey. I want to see a film where one of these guys comes along and shoots people in the back, commits a rape and then shoots all the witnesses. The real-life bad guys of the old west OFTEN did this, but I guess it doesn't make for a good movie. Instead, we get another clichéd portrayal that just bogs this movie down--without it, it would have gotten a score of at least 8.
Review of Chisum
