Finished up Pale Rider this evening - decent western, but I'm don't think it's quite as good as a lot of people seemed to make it out to be. If there is anything I'm running into in some of these films I'm watching recently it is a bit of over-acting, and the woman and her daughter in particular seemed to do a fair bit of that in this film.
I loved the concept of
Pale Rider more than the actual execution. It’s essentially a cynical
Shane, sprinkled with biblical mysticism, and a gender-swapped Joey so that Megan’s overt admiration of Preacher has intentionally cringe-worthy overtones.
My absolute favorite part of
Pale Rider though is the stunning sparseness of the final confrontation in town. It’s like a zen-tactic
High Noon devoid of the latter’s superb tension. Which, you know, shouldn’t be a good thing, but for some reason I found the vast expanse of the serene mountainous scenery and whispering silence of the deserted town mesmerizingly beautiful. Far more compelling than the gunfight for which I already knew the outcome.
And I kinda think that was the point.
Oh, also, as for the overacting. I think it plays well off Preacher’s pronounced stoicism. Is it any wonder Megan (Sydney Penny) went on to star in almost exclusively soap operas and Sarah (Carrie Snodgress) was best known for her role in
Diary of a Mad Housewife?