"Henry Fonda and Anthony Perkins headline The Tin Star, a tough-minded, character-driven western nominated for an Oscar for its story and screenplay. Perkins plays Ben Owens, a greenhorn sheriff who hasn't worn his badge long... and won't live to wear it much longer unless he gets some savvy help. Fonda, bringing to his role the presence and plain speaking that made him an icon of the cinematic West, plays wily bounty hunter Morg Hickman. 'A decent man doesn't want to kill,' Morg counsels Ben. 'But if you're going to shoot, shoot to kill.' Morg backs up his words with action. And when the time comes, so will Ben."
Ok y'all, so I have a new favorite! And it was a completely unexpected, happy surprise.
This film is packed with great classic elements: an idealistic young sheriff, townspeople that can flip flop, a loner coming into town... found family.
And the roles are wonderfully inverted.
There's a young idiocy that sounds great and is well intentioned but has no clue as to how things actually work out on the ground. And there's a maturity that is -- not necessarily jaded and world weary -- but just under no illusions as to what standing on principle actually looks like in the real world.
You need to have smarts and a cool head.
Some of this might sound simplistic (and there's a real element where that's true), but it also depends on what kind of story you're telling. Some stories are the stuff of myth and legend, and some stories you feel like you could step right into and not stick out like a sore thumb -- what with all the rough edges and awkward bumps of real life. Real life can be deceptively simple and mundane, but every day we're playing for eternal stakes. And it's that simple littleness spinning into the bigness together that gets under my skin in a story like this.
There's maturity and immaturity (seen reflected too in the parallel love stories, but no spoilers on that ;)). And part of becoming mature -- growing up and standing on your own two feet -- means learning (wisely, carefully, of course) to make your own decisions. Reading men and deciding who to trust. (Brought out interestingly in the whole little thing between Doc McCord, Ben, and Morg.) In a father figure capacity, the doctor is wise to counsel caution of a stranger, but as it turns out in the end here, Ben makes the right decision. But yet he does it without rebelling or creating a big scene or injecting unnecessary drama. We should want our children to come to that maturity.
I've discovered part of the reason I really love both westerns and murder mysteries is -- not from some sort of weird morbidity -- but because everything is distilled down. From a technical perspective, they drive right down into the heart of things, the heart of people. That's not to say they can't be messy, with all sorts of conflicting motivations -- heartbreakingly trivial or momentous -- but still, they cut right to the heart of the matter.
In this case, how a man is made.
And men were made to conquer things. Real men don't provoke fights, but they need to always be ready for one; and this is about straight forward, straight shooting, true manhood. It's about standing up against prejudice and injustice (sidenote, I really like how they take the whole justice/Indians theme into the very particular). It's about following the rule of law. Standing for goodness.
And it's not solely about catching the bad guys. It's about being able to stand up to everyone else when the world goes mad.
I will say some of the story / themes seems a bit on the nose at first, but then it develops into something all too real and come the ending... well, let's just say I haven't been this invested in a film in quite a while. (Talk about all the feels.) In the climax, *slight spoiler* I wasn't actually worried any of our main characters would get killed (though maybe I should have been xD) *end spoiler*, but honestly, I was just desperately wanting to see that cool headedness come out of the raw -- that backbone, that standing for justice, that rock against the storm.
Deservedly a classic (and, content-wise, entirely family friendly) it makes sturdy courage, truth, goodness... attractive and compelling.
And that's no mean feat. In fact, it's quite something. <3
I highly recommend it!
This is one of my favorite Westerns and I love how in-depth you went in your look at the story and characters. Henry Fonda and Anthony Perkins made such a winning combination!
ReplyDeleteI watched this Western twice and liked it very much. I'll have to watch it again with your really interesting review in mind. I liked the Nona-Kip-Morg part of the story, I'm a sucker for the "loner yearns for domesticity" thing – that's why I cry buckets at the ending of "Shane". *Spoiler alert*: no need to cry buckets at the ending of "Tin Star". Highly recommendable.
ReplyDeleteThis was a surprise to me too, as I went into it not knowing anything about it, and ended up getting a copy for my collection because it's one I want to revisit time and again. Definitely some thought-provoking nuances under what seems to be a straight-up coming-of-age sort of story.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the score is just gorgeous. I wrote about 90% of One Bad Apple while listening to it (which made rewatching the movie a little weird the first time after I finished the book, as it was like, "Wait, this cue is supposed to be layered over a wagon train coming down the road..." and that cracked me up).