Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

"Too bad we don't have time to bury those fellas proper like." Jamie
"To hell with those fellas. Buzzards have to eat, same as worms." Josey Wales

Those seemingly vituperative words from the mouth of the protagonist become understandable when the following historical context is considered.

The Outlaw Josey Wales is set in an era that is very interesting and provokes spirited debate, if not fisticuffs, to this day - particularly among people who call their home Missouri.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
In 1818, the Missouri Territory (part of the vast Louisiana Purchase) applied for statehood. The U.S. at that point was evenly divided between slave and free states. The powers-that-be saw a huge problem looming on the horizon: Would the immense Louisiana Territory be slave or free? They decide it would be half and half...

Through a number of political machinations, Missouri was admitted as a slave state and Maine as a free state thus temporarily maintaining the balance between slave and free states. The ongoing tension left by this Band-Aid fix gave rise to clashes between Missourians and federal authorities when the Kansas and Nebraska Territories opted to let their voters decide whether the new states when admitted would be slave or free, thus negating the so-called Missouri Compromise.

Every type of ambitious ruffian, including Abolitionists and federal troops, came to the new territories to ensure that the states were voted in free. Missourians were divided in their political views and it became a matter of "Show Me!" which side you are on once the barbarism escalated into routine murder, rape, and pillage of political opponents. Since this difficult and dangerous time Missouri has been known as the "Show Me!" state.

Long before the Civil War erupted, organized bands of mobile ruffians preyed on Missourians. One such group was known as the Red Legs nominally on the federal side but willing to get their booty from any likely source. The depredations of Union bands were answered by guerilla bands like Quantrill's and Bloody Bill Anderson's. These freebooting gangs operated like pirates on the Spanish Main and spawned a number of notable men, Wild Bill Hickok on the Yankee side, and Frank and Jesse James for the Confederates. It is at this time of flux, the cusp of the U.S. Civil War that the movie opens…

THE MOVIE:
Josey Wales (Clint Eastwood) is a hardscrabble dirt farmer somewhere in Missouri (pronounced Mizzera). While he is plowing his rocky field a gang of Red Legs loots and burns his farmhouse, raping and killing his family in the bargain. Josey hurries back just in time to receive a savage saber cut across his face from the boss Red Leg. Left for dead, he recovers and joins a band of Confederate irregulars under Bloody Bill Anderson. The gang fights through the four years of the Civil War during the opening credits. Then, the real movie begins.

After the war is over, the Anderson band is conned into surrendering to the Union authorities, all except Josey who could be the poster boy for the "Fergit? Hell!" sentiments that still prevail across the South. Watching the Union camp through his spyglass he sees they are planning to execute the rebels after lulling them with false promises of amnesty. Too late to save his friends, Josey charges into camp and brings swift retribution on 50 or 60 Yankees. He escapes with one companion, the wounded Jamie (Sam Bottoms).

The chief Red Leg (Bill McKinney) has been legitimized by the government and is commissioned to hunt down and kill Josey Wales who is declared an outlaw by the military governor. This provides tension to fuel the rest of the story. Meanwhile, Josey is making tracks, headin for the Indian Nations…

Jamie doesn't make it but serves as a good sidekick to Josey while he lasts. In his travels Josey meets up with all sorts of people, many of whom are trying to kill him but some are just trying to get by, as he is. He befriends a number of them and finds he is the leader of a growing "family" before long. Lone Watie (Chief Dan George) is one of his followers. After witnessing several instances of Wales' lightning-like Gun-fu, the two have the following exchange:

Josey Wales: "When I get to likin' someone, they ain't around long."
Lone Watie: "I notice when you get to dislikin' someone they ain't around for long neither!"

One of the big plusses of the film is its dialog, with many memorable exchanges between the characters.

Josey: "You a bounty hunter?"
BH: "Fella gotta make a livin somehow these days."
Josey: "Dying ain't much of a living, boy."

Another time, Wales unexpectedly walks into the middle of a pack of Union soldiers:

"Well, are you gonna pull those pistols or whistle Dixie?"

Acting is good, with Eastwood and Dan George exceptional and the rest excellent. The only sour note in the casting was Eastwood's then inamorata Sondra Locke whose ability and charisma has escaped me up to now. Thankfully her role was a brief one and she was not allowed to mar the film unduly. The supporting cast includes some colorful characters including a pair of red necks that look like the same two who got the drop on Ned Beatty in Deliverance.

The story, as you can tell from the descriptions above, is a cut above the standard Western fare. While it is a revenge film, it is rounded out by the excellent characterizations by Eastwood and company. Eastwood's little family includes a self-righteous old biddy (Paula Trueman) that unknowingly insults Eastwood's origins with her outspoken and sanctimonious blather. Clint just scowls away, as usual!

The directing by Eastwood shows a lot of insight into the composition of the widescreen frame, which is 2.35: 1 on this DVD. Lighting and camera is very good and captures Eastwood's vision well. The score by Jerry Fielding is sensitive and complex suiting the material well.

All in all, The Outlaw Josey Wales is a great achievement by actor/director Clint Eastwood and deserves to be seen by his fans and those who like an engrossing movie.

The Warner Brothers DVD contains a host of extra features including two making of documentaries, and an introduction by Clint Eastwood and can be bought for about $10.00 today. Well worth the price and a valuable addition to your Video collection!

More great westerns for Clint Eastwood fans:

High Plains Drifter

Unforgiven.

Pale Rider

Happy viewing!


Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening