[6]

On one hand, Arthur Penn’s take on Billy the Kid isn’t as whitewashed as other tellings. On the other hand, why should we care that some hot-headed simpleton ran out and got himself shot? Despite an admirable effort from Paul Newman, I couldn’t quite invest in the character as much as I’d have liked, but the movie still moves at a brisk pace and features a fare share of good old-fashioned western action.

The emotional crux of the story wants to be Billy’s relationships with father figures John Tunstall (Colin Keith-Johnston) and Pat Garrett (John Dehner), but the former character is killed too early in the story to leave a lasting impression and the later never endears himself to either Billy or the audience. My favorite scene is after Billy’s reported death in the fire, when friends Charlie and Tom (James Congdon and James Best) come to ‘pay their respects’ to a friend still very much alive.