Today’s quick review: The Outlaw Josey Wales. After his family is killed by a group of Union raiders, Josey Wales (Clint Eastwood) joins a band of guerrilla fighters on the Confederate side. But when his compatriots are betrayed at the end of the Civil War, Josey is one of the only survivors. Declared an outlaw and hunted by Union troops and bounty hunters alike, Josey makes for Texas, where he can lay low and plot his revenge.
The Outlaw Josey Wales is a Western with a gritty tone interrupted by dashes of humor. The Outlaw Josey Wales sees Clint Eastwood in a familiar Western role: a taciturn gunman with few ties and a risky moral streak. His flight is fraught not just with enemies but unlikely allies, and along the way, he accumulates a family’s worth of misfits and rogues. Clint Eastwood makes for as strong a lead as ever, tough and unflappable but with human weaknesses.
The Outlaw Josey Wales is fairly well executed. The story wanders from incident to incident, but in sensible and realistic ways, and the characters met along the way give each encounter a sense of purpose. The tone is unflinchingly serious: death, loss, and betrayal are simply the facts of life, with scant few lasting victories. But Josey’s interactions with his talkative companions give the movie a touch of humor and keep it from being a downer.
Watch The Outlaw Josey Wales when you are in the mood for a solid Western with a strong lead, a good script, and plenty of gunplay. Though not quite the masterpiece that Clint Eastwood’s very best Westerns are, The Outlaw Josey Wales is not far off the mark. For more in the same vein, check out A Fistful of Dollars or The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
7.9 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 7.5 for good execution and a well-used lead.