High Plains Drifter - 1973 *

I was expecting to go into 'High Plains Drifter' and be greeted with another fantastic movie like 'The Good, The Bad and the Ugly.' However I was so unimpressed by the movie that it left a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. Eastwood is a cowboy like no other, and in any other film I'm sure he would be exciting and cool. In this however, it was like he was completely uninterested in his own part, half acting, half slouching his way through the film, while scene after scene is shown where people are literally tripping themselves up to be in the same place as him. His manner is really not here nor there, it's not evil, and it's not good, it's just sort of 'medium', 'the gray area' which is totally baffling. It's amazing to see such a prolific actor take such an awfully menial part. Added to which, his directing skills really left a lot to be desired. Remember the gripping countdown of tension in TGTBATU? The way you knew something was going to happen and that when it did it would be monumental? Well there is nothing like that amount of tension here. There is a lot of walking around and long, long shots, but NOTHING HAPPENS. At all. The small amount of tension you get sort of filters off and evaporates. It was dull, far too violent for a Clint Estwood western with uncalled for swearing and pointless scenes that can only have been slotted in to make the male members of the audience sit up in their seats. Added to which there is some teeth-grating music that keeps coming on and off without warning, supposedly attempting to create a scare. It sounds like someone has got a bagpipe stuck in their windpipe. There is nothing to recommend about this movie at all.