Beanbioca As Good As It Gets

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Tweekums Owen Daybright is the adopted son of cattleman Arch Strobie; his loyalty extends to trying to protect Arch's son Lee. Lee has fathered a child and has Owen give the mother, Lily, five hundred dollars; her brother is determined to find the identity of the father and have his vengeance against the man who brought dishonour on his family; neither Lily nor Owen is going to name the father. It soon becomes apparent that Lee has no intention of repaying this loyalty; he sees Owen as a rival for his father's affections and his future inheritance. It would suit him nicely if Lily's brothers were to think Owen was the baby's father and kill him.This is a solid western; it might not be full of action but it has a good story. Having a story which features an unmarried mother who isn't a 'terrible person who must suffer' is rather surprising for a film of this era… of course ultimately the man responsible will have to pay but even this is because he betrayed his adopted brother rather than fathering the child. There are a few action scenes but only one of them is a traditional shootout. I liked how this showed a fair amount of the cowboy's work; we see them breaking horses and rounding up the cattle after they are allowed to roam during the winter… I might have learnt something about nineteenth century cattle farming in the United States! The cast does a fine job; Burt Lancaster is most notable as protagonist Owen; Robert Walker is also solid as the cowardly antagonist Lee Strobie. Overall this isn't a must see but it is still worth watching if you are a fan of Westerns.

LeonLouisRicci Burt Lancaster Saddles Up for the First Time and Seems Home on the Range in This Underrated Western. It's Got Everything a Thinker's Western Could Have. A Detailed "Adult" Script When the "Adult" Western was Just Being Born and Would Flourish with Anthony Mann and Budd Boetticher.This One Feels Different. With a Voice Over Narration Uncommon in the Genre, it Lays Out Details About Cattle Ranching and Roundups that are Interesting and Add Flavor to the Proceedings. The Baby Out of Wedlock Story (that is the vengeance of the title) Must have had the Production Code Squirming, is Unique for the Time and Almost Unheard of in Westerns.It's Got a Good Cast, a Prolific Director, an MGM Budget, Color, Wide Open Spaces, Gritty Violence, and a Crackling Mature Mixture of Morality and Money Grubbing. Robert Walker is as Slimy as They Come as the Spoiled and Evil Son, and John Ireland and Hugh O'Brian as Dim-Witted Thugs Using Family Ties to Justify Their Lust for Violence. As In Most Westerns the Females are Peripheral to the Story Even Though They are Central to the Motivations of the Hard Living Men. Overall, this is an Offbeat Film that Seems to have Elevated Itself Spontaneously as the Unusual Elements Rose to the Forefront and Made This a Unique Entry in the Usually Stodgy Western Formula.

MartinHafer In this western, Lily Fasken has just had a baby with no father. When a nice guy (Burt Lancaster) helps her, her two no-good brothers think it's because the baby is his...but it actually belongs to one of Lancaster's friends (the no-goodnick played by Robert Walker). Yet, despite the brothers trying to kill Lancaster, Walker still says the child isn't his--mostly because he's a coward and doesn't want his new wife to know about his formerly wild ways. And, he even goes so far as to go behind Lancaster's back--trying to get him killed! Why?! See this film and see what becomes of this horrible man and our hero.While Burt Lancaster worked out well in this film because of his great physique, casting Walker was just plain strange. While I liked Walker in such films as "Strangers on a Train" and "The Clock", I just felt that he was completely out of place in a western--as was his motivations. I am sure that audiences of the day felt much the same way. In addition, you really wondered why Lancaster as well as the two female leads in the film all kept Walker's secret for so long--he certainly didn't seem to deserve or inspire such loyalty. In addition, the added narration seemed out of place and unnecessary--like it was added later to try to tied the film together...unsuccessfully. Despite these serious problems, the film is entertaining and watchable...but certainly NOT especially memorable.

moonspinner55 Feckless cowboy, married but also semi-secretly the father of an infant born to an unwed neighbor girl, allows his foster-brother to take the rap when the vengeful brother of the tight-lipped lass comes to town packing heat. Oater opens with a laughably clichéd narration by a Jimmy Stewart sound-alike informing us this is a yarn about "cow country and cow punchers, cattle, and men. Worn leather, saddles, blisters and branding irons!" Unfortunately, it turns out to be a rather wan, dim horse-opera, with Robert Walker's rotter one-dimensionally written and portrayed (he whips a horse that won't let him ride, a signal to us that his wife--who only has one Sunday dress--is miserable at home). Burt Lancaster, occasionally unshaven and cat-like in his movements, broods sexily and is the only reason to watch the picture. *1/2 from ****