Once Upon A Time In The West:

How 2007 Was the Year of the Western…

By William Renken

Six shooters. Cheroots. Ponchos. Add a couple of horses. Sprinkle on some dusty scenery.  Maybe a little chew on the side.  Boy, there was a time …

The Western: Hollywood’s granddaddy genre aka the old man that never wants to stay in the retirement home, where we put him time and time again.

Every so often, he finds a way to escape obscurity and come roaring back into your life, and sometimes you’re surprised by what new tricks he’s got up his sleeve.

2007 saw the return of the Western, again.

First, the backstory:

A genre usually regarded as overpriced, overdrawn and seemingly outdated, the Western was once the cornerstone of Hollywood cinema.  With stars like John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Gary Cooper, Burt Lancaster and directors like John Ford, Sergio Leone, Sam Peckinpah, the Western thrived amid many changes in style throughout most of the first half of the 20th century. 

On television, you were as likely to find a Western on every channel as you are a reality show today.  It was huge business.  But when many of those stars died out and that little conflict in Southeast Asia changed everyone’s mind-set, moviegoers shied away from the genre.  Certain injections throughout the coming decades (“Young Guns”/ “Young Guns 2,” “Silverado,” “Pale Rider,” etc.) tried to reignite the Western but to no avail.  But then “Dances With Wolves” and “Unforgiven” came along and took home Best Picture honors at the Academy Awards among loads of critical acclaim in the early 1990s.  Suddenly, it was cool to make Westerns again.

Hollywood responded.  “Tombstone,” “Wyatt Earp,” “Geronimo” among a slew of others immediately followed, but the success was not too substantial.  As quickly as America had fallen in love with the Western, it had moved on again.

Even Kevin Costner (director/star of “Dances With Wolves”) tried to go back to the well with “Open Range,” which again was moderately successful but boring to most audiences (but with one of the best realistic Western shootouts in history).

But then came 2005.  “Brokeback Mountain” was not only a success with critics but a success at the box office, profiting well above its $14 million budget.  It proved that there really could be intriguing stories told in the Western backdrop that audiences could still connect with. 
And then there was 2007…

First there were those wacky Coen brothers who proved dark comedy was their bread and butter with favorites like “Fargo” and “The Big Lebowski”.  But then they showed us a side they had not shown since “Blood Simple” with the tautest of taut thrillers in “No Country For Old Men.”  Please watch, simply for the exchange between Javier Bardem and the store clerk (“Call it, Friendo…”).  Great writing, cinematography, acting. It took home Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards.  Not since “The Searcher” has a film left such a blistering mark on the genre.  If you are into cinema that explores a deeper meaning and asks you questions as you watch it, “No Country” keeps injecting you way after the fact and thus propels itself into the criterion of Western films.

“3:10 To Yuma” was a bold return of the classic ‘bang, bang, shoot ‘em up’ Western that had Christian Bale and Russell Crowe battle each other’s conflicting ethics to finally find a deep-rooted respect and friendship by the time the final shots are fired.  Although released in September, it garnered love from critics and decent box office returns for its modest budget.  It shows us is why we love the anti-hero time and time again.

Finally, “There Will Be Blood”

Wow, quite simply the best performance of the last decade and it can be debatable as the best beyond that.  Daniel Day-Lewis gives us the most brutal three hours of cinema we have seen in a long time. We feel it all: his voice, his eyes, his anger, his lust, his pain. It's a turn-of-the-century Western that deals with the prospects of oil.  It might as well be gold to Day-Lewis’ character Daniel Plainview, who courts as much as he can at the expense of everyone else.  It’s a very Hemingway-esque Western that leaves you questioning your own desires and why you seek them.