Red River tells the story of Thomas Dunson (John Wayne) who wants to start his own successful cattle ranch in Texas. He adopts an orphan boy, Matt Garth (Montgomery Clift). Fourteen years later, they have their own full cattle ranch, but look to head north to Missouri because of the level of poverty in the south. The film captures the relationship between the two cow boys and how Dunson turns authoritarian.
I have to be honest and say that Westerns are really not my cup of tea. I have tried four or five times to get into them but they are just not my thing. At times, I really struggled to follow the story, especially as the film lasted over two hours. Despite this, there were moments of brilliance in the acting. Wayne had moments where he magnificent, playing Dunson like a third world, blood thirsty dictator. Clift balanced this out with a more humane Matt. John Ireland's performance as Cherry Valance is also worth noting. Despite these moments of brilliance, it did not help the film dragging.
I think there are two types of reviewers - one who likes to be taken to a completely alien place in time and another to see something that they can relate to. I think I am more of the latter. As you can probably tell from my previous reviews, the only thing I can associate with is the influence this film had on the Village People!
I am sorry and I try my best to engage with all genres, but this just did not do it for me.
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