Movie Review - The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

In my movie reviews, I give my brief thoughts on what I watched. Sometimes I will expound on those thoughts, but more often than not, I will just give a brief opinion. You can read plot descriptions on Internet Movie Database or on Amazon.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Starring John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart. (1962)

Source: http://goo.gl/BgpFjG

I have a confession to make.

I tried to watch this film many years ago and I hated it. With a capital HATED. My problem was that I only saw Stewart as George Bailey or Mr. Smith or Tony Kirby. My imagination was broken. The second problem was that I didn't like John Wayne. I know...that makes me un-American or something.

Why didn't I like John Wayne, you ask? Well, it had something to do with the way he talks. It's too slow. It's too drawn out and deliberate. I know. I'm a huge fan of Stewart and he did the exact same thing. Hypocrisy. Irony. I get it.

But what that did was it caused me to not watch any other Stewart western...or John Wayne western for that matter. Maybe I just have a problem with westerns.

So then along comes this blog, and I start thinking that I will just start watching all of Stewart and Capra's films again. And I have to admit that my stomach did a slow roll when I thought about re-watching this film, or watching any of Stewart's bazillion other westerns (that's just a low estimate. I don't know how many there really are).

But apparently I have grown up or expanded my horizons or gotten old or my personality has hardened or something. Because I actually kind of liked it this time around. Perhaps I'll give Stewart's other westerns a shot.

So at this point in my life I will give it 3.5 out of 5 stars. But only because this entry feels more like a confession than a review.