| Overall Grade: |
B |
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| Story: |
B |
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| Acting: |
B+ |
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| Direction: |
B- |
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| Visuals: |
C+ |
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A Greedy Garner
by BartG (movies profile)
Dec 19, 2008
Luther Sledge is a man determined to get the gold at any cost! As played by a cast against type James Garner, we find our outlaw/hero leading a typically motley band of marauders that includes TV's Dennis Weaver and Wayde Preston,and Claude Atkins (later Sheriff Lobo from "B.J. and the Bear"). But the lynchpin that inspires the idea to get the cache, is oldtimer John Marley, who had been jailed at a nearby territorial prison, and observed therein how gold shipments were transported at regular intervals, and at prescribed rest stop junctures that would be plumb for the pickins!
The usual plot contrivances ensue as is standard for this sort of fare, and director Vic ("Combat") Morrow handles it all adroitly in this modest entry in that rather revered of genres known as the "Spaghetti Western". Although, nothing really new was added this time, it all feels right, as you can practically taste the sagebrush and sand throughout! Also the cast gives it their all, particularly Garner who really seems to shed his "Maverick" nice guy persona here, and a grizzled Marley hitting all the right notes in this film which just preceeded his role in the blockbuster weepie "Love Story" released later that year.
So, overall I found this an involving ,albeit violent strewn story about what greed can do to people, and one that has left an impression on me decades after its initial release----and that in itself says it "ain't hardly" too bad! |
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