It's just not his style

McQ (1974)

John Wayne as John Wayne

As I've already posted, I love John Wayne. I really do. A lot. But I really don't like this movie. At all. The first problem is that, as I've also already covered, John Wayne had a short acting range. He was clearly uncomfortable in this movie. There are entire scenes where he keeps fidgeting and shuffling his feet a bit. And worst of all, he's not Dirty Harry. Thankfully, Wayne didn't even try to be like Clint, but the role clearly called for it. In the end, the actor and character didn't really fit that well.

Now, having gotten the acting out of the way, let me get to the main reason I don't like the movie: it's DEPRESSING. Every single person McQ thought may have been a friendly acquaintance in his life turns out to be against him in some way or another. Even his wife leaves him. By the end, I wasn't even that satisfied that he had "gotten the bad guys" because his life ended up becoming so miserable. Unlike Dirty Harry, who really was a lone wolf and never seemed too friendly with anyone, McQ is written as a friendly if abrupt guy. The entire point of the movie is that he is trying to track out down the people responsible for the death of one of his friends; and apparently the only one who was a decent guy. The only good part about how utterly depressing everything was is that John Wayne's best acting came during the scenes in which he felt most betrayed. At this late stage of his life, Wayne was an expert at playing sad men, the most obvious proof being True Grit and especially The Shootist, which was, in my opinion, his greatest performance.

Overall, another movie I'm shipping off to my dad for Christmas.