Brandon at Random Reviews

As a youth, my family enjoyed the shit out of this movie. We had a VHS copy that was not formatted to fit the screen it played on so there were multiple scenes where a bunch of shit was just left out of frame, but we enjoyed it all the same. It’s a light-hearted Western featuring some actors (I hope I’m not giving too much away).

You know, I love John Wayne, but he does have all the range of a baby monitor with no batteries in it. If I recall, this movie and Rooster Cogburn are the closest he seemed to come to stepping outside of his comfort zone and acting like he’s having a little fun. However, if you see any of the Duke’s movies, see this one or “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” featuring one of my all time favs Jimmy Stewart. Maureen O’Hara is terrific as always here (although I think I’ve only ever seen her in this, “Miracle on 34th Street”, and “The Parent Trap”), she plays pissed off remarkably well, which is good since it’s a mood her character is in for nearly the entire duration of the film.

Wayne plays the cattle baron, amongst other things, GW McLintock! (it’s never clear if the exclamation point is a part of his last name so I will leave it in out of respect, it’s also the name of the town this story is set in) his estranged wife Katherine is played by O’Hara who wants a split because I guess he may have cheated on her a couple years before. Their daughter comes home and has the attention of many of the young dudes in town.

There is a lot of episodic stuff going on with the plot (is that the right word? I’ve never used it before but Google says yes), it just kind of skips around somewhat randomly and is entertaining enough. I especially enjoy the hilariously loud sound effects when punching happens. It sounds like a landscaping timber being thrown against an old woodshed.

All in all I’d say if you’re into westerns or John Wayne even a little bit, McLintock! is a light-hearted romp with a lot of great characters and interactions and themes. I love it, it’s just a little all over the place plot-wise. If you’re not big on Westerns or John Wayne, for shit’s sake, why the fuck did you even read this far? Go see a Star War.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

“I’ve got a touch of hangover, bureaucrat. Don’t push me.”