lonesome dove

So picture me, cocky and sitting on my couch reading as everyone in Film Club trashes Ben and Jason’s pick for movie of the month. I’m smiling because I know that I’ll be the first member to pick a film that everyone likes and be heralded the member with the most unanimous taste and be carried off the field on all of your shoulders. Then I read the first post about my pick, 1962’s LONELY ARE THE BRAVE, from Jerzy. The guy sarcastically dismisses the film outright knocking me down a peg. I think to myself “well Jerzy seems to generally dislike a lot of movies so I’m ok with this.” But then my man Jason who admits to liking most movies, even ZOMBIE STRIPPERS, entitles his post LONELY ARE THE BRAVE IS A STUPID MOVIE. My inflated head lets some serious air out.

Thankfully Jeff came to my rescue but that’s to be expected. Fucking classic movie nerds right? I don’t have much to add because I have a lot of stuff to do before leaving today but I’ll say one thing to everyone. I think you are all reading this thing way too literally. It’s not necessarily about the death of the western as it is about the death of the independent man. It was written by Dalton Trumbo you dummies. The guy was blacklisted. He was told to conform or be prosecuted.

I also want to add that I don’t think anyone should dismiss the film simply because Mr. Douglas’ character chose to do some naughty things. His character isn’t meant to be sympathized with blindly. He’s naïve, cocky, and deserving of incarceration. There are plenty of things to admire about the guy but he’s far from perfect. I don’t think I’d like a perfect character. Also, outside of Douglas which actor was trying to make his big comeback here? I'm confused.

Outside of that I can just say that I vehemently disagree with almost everything both of you wrote. The performances are great and even if you hated the ending I find it odd dismissing everything that came before. I even got a Peter Traverseque “SPARTACUS meets GRUMPY OLD MEN” comparison. What the fuck? I could write more but that would be a “waste of time.”