An aging senator recounts the time he made enemies with a
notorious gunslinger, and barely escaped the incident with his life. WESTERN
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The Man Who Shot
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The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is a masterpiece of the American western genre, and contains what may be John Wayne's greatest performance, as well as incredible work from both James Stewart and Lee Marvin. It's a film that turns a number of tropes on their heads and subverts audience expectations. In short, this is the rare case where Wayne is not the hero of the film, but is instead upstaged and ends up depressed and alone because of it. It's not at all what I expected, and it greatly exceeded my expectations.
James Stewart plays Ransom Stoddard, a young lawyer who breezes into town only to run afoul of notorious gunslinger and robber Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin), who robs him and beats him. Upon arriving to the town of Shinbone, Ransom is called out by Valance as a troublemaker and threatens to kill him. Thanks to the intervention of local hero Tom Doniphon (Wayne), Ransom lives to regret his decision to come to this town. As the film progresses, we grow attached to Ransom because he's the everyman, the little guy, the unsung hero. He's not the untouchable western legend. Hell, in the first ten minutes, he gets nearly beaten to death by the bad guy. This film is very character driven and treats every character like they're the hero of their own story, something that a lot of Wayne's films never had. While I would say that this film is way more of a James Stewart film than a John Wayne film, I still think it holds Wayne's best performance. He finally gets to play a bit against type in the third act by not becoming "The man who shot Liberty Valance" and losing the girl. In this state, we get to see a John Wayne entering depression and attempting suicide. It's an emotional film that doesn't let up and keeps your interest throughout. It's a fantastic watch. |