This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
Brandy Bell’s review published on Letterboxd:
This review may contain spoilers.
100 Minutes or Less 2022 Challenge
Task #16: Short on time. Watch a film where they are racing against the clock.
Loved:
1. The church debate scene.
2. The scene with Lon Chaney Jr.
3. The tin star thrown in the dirt at the end.
4. That the female characters were so well-written, especially Mrs. Ramirez and especially for 1952.
5. That ticking clock and the stress you feel as the audience as it gets closer and closer to noon.
My only real complaint is that I wanted a bit of more of a backstory for Kane and to learn more about his motivations for staying in the town, even when everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) told him to leave. You also get absolutely nothing from Frank Miller. It would have been nice for the two of them to exchange some words and learn a bit more of the relationship between the two of them before Miller dies. But I really liked the anti-violence stance of the town, the low body count for a western, and the surprisingly little gunfighting. I thought that was an interesting and unexpected take for the genre.