Although it never quite escapes the pitfalls of pretension, this film was Kirk Douglas's bid for the affections of the art house crowd, and it remains one of his best efforts. The star plays unreconstructed "rugged individual" Jack Burns, who rides throughout the modern west knocking down man-made fences. Visiting his equally rebellious friend Paul Bondi (Michael Kane), Burns deliberately gets himself thrown in jail to be nearer his pal. Frustrated that Bondi doesn't want to join Burns on the
road, Burns breaks out of jail, thereby becoming a fugitive. His trail is dogged by Sheriff Johnson (Walter Matthau), a frustrated frontiersman who secretly admires the freewheeling Burns. Meanwhile, a truck driver (Carroll O'Connor) is ominously driving down the highway with a truckload of toilets. If you think there's supposed to be some symbolism in this seemingly peripheral character, you're absolutely right. Bill Raisch, a genuine amputee who played the one-armed man on TV's The Fugitive, is Douglas' surly opponent in the café brawl sequence. Filmed on location in New Mexico, Lonely are the Brave was adapted by Dalton Trumbo from Edward Abbey's novel Brave Cowboy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Kirk Douglas produced and starred in this elegiac Western, scripted by Dalton Trumbo, which laments the vanishing Old West, its heroes and their mores, replaced by a modern world dominated by progress and technology.
Douglas oferece uma atuação curiosamente divertida, mas o roteiro de Dalton Trumbo (normalmente um mestre) fracassa ao se concentrar na longa perseguição em vez de fornecer elementos para que possamos comprender melhor as motivações do protagonista.
I'm beginning to wonder if Kirk Douglas ever gave a bad performance. If you only know him from Spartacus then you don't know what you're missing. His lesser known films, like Ace in the Hole, Champion, The Bad and the Beautiful, Paths of Glory, and Lonely are the Brave are a testament to his talent and his enormous
contributions to the art of movie making.
December 28, 2008
Randy Tippy
Super Reviewer
Lonely are the Brave is an underrated classic that never seemed to get is due. A mostly great story (I did nod off a couple times but to the film's credit, it was past 4AM), some great acting (this movie--along with Ace in the Hole--is a monument to my underappreciation of Kirk Douglas), some fine direction and some d
a m n fine cinematography make for a memorable moviegoing experience. This is a sort of upbeat movie for a movie about such a doomed character and Douglas plays John (Jack for short) Burns with an almost naive optimism in a way that's hopeful but almost jarring at the same time. The supporting performances (particularly Walter Matthau) were great, but despite Lonely are the Brave (original title of The Last Cowboy is much more appropriate) being made at the right time in history, it was made kind of too early in cinematic history for its own good. File between Easy Rider precursors and High Sierra with a dash of Hud.
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