Today’s quick review: Rio Lobo. After the Civil War, Colonel Cord McNally (John Wayne) rides to Rio Lobo, Texas, in search of two officers who betrayed the Union. There he agrees to help Captain Pierre Cardona (Jorge Rivero), his former Confederate rival, and Shasta Delaney (Jennifer O’Neill), a snake oil saleswoman, free Rio Lobo from Tom Hendricks (Mike Henry), the town’s corrupt sheriff, and Ketcham (Victor French), his wealthy backer.
Rio Lobo is a Western about a pair of Civil War veterans who set out to restore justice to a small Texas town. The movie offers only a slight variation on the classic Western formula. John Wayne’s character is drawn into Rio Lobo by reports of the traitors he is hunting, but instead he finds a town infested with corruption. What follows is an escalating conflict between McNally’s allies and Ketcham’s, a simple serving of Old West action.
Rio Lobo gets the basics of the genre right, but it stumbles in a few places. The most notable aspect of the characters is the unlikely friendship between McNally and Cardona, but otherwise, neither character is exceptional. McNally is a generic hero who doesn’t capitalize on John Wayne’s talents, while Cardona never makes a strong impression as McNally’s younger ally.
Likewise, the plot covers all the ground it needs to, but not necessarily well. The story buries the lede, spending too long on preliminaries before working its way around to the main plot. The large supporting cast means that many of the movie’s subplots do not get a full treatment, while rough patches in the dialogue keep the scenes from flowing as well as they could.
None of this detracts from the core appeal of the movie, which is classic Western action. From the train heist at the beginning of the movie to the shootouts peppered throughout, Rio Lobo goes out of its way to make sure it has plenty of spectacle. While the fights are not as impactful as the best the genre has to offer, they are enough to flesh out the movie. Combined with a serviceable story, they make the movie a reasonable watch.
How much you get out of Rio Lobo will depend on how well you like the Western formula. It makes enough minor mistakes that discerning viewers will find it tepid, with a story that takes a while to get going and characters that never truly leave a mark. But fans of the genre for its own sake, especially those looking for some action, will find that Rio Lobo does a fair job. Give it a shot unless you are looking for something groundbreaking.
For a more polished Western in a similar vein starring John Wayne, try Big Jake. For a more dramatic Western about cleaning up a rural town, try Tombstone.
[6.8 out of 10 on IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066301/). I give it a 6.5 for enjoyable action and some missed opportunities.