MONTE WALSH is one of the many 'death of the Old West' westerns to have come out over the years, with the most notable examples of the genre being THE WILD BUNCH and UNFORGIVEN. This one's lower key, lower budgeted, and more gritty than those movies; it's not really an action film either, although it has a handful of the shoot-outs you'd expect.
The film belongs to a typically larger-than-life Lee Marvin, playing the grizzled old gunslinger who comes to realise that his way of life belongs in the distant past. He brings pathos and humour to the part, although I found the film's most valuable performer to be Jack Palance, cast against type as Marvin's buddy. Palance is a lot of fun in the role, and it's nice to see him as other than the sneering villain. The rest of the film is non-clichéd, a bit slow at times, but otherwise engrossing and unusual.
The film belongs to a typically larger-than-life Lee Marvin, playing the grizzled old gunslinger who comes to realise that his way of life belongs in the distant past. He brings pathos and humour to the part, although I found the film's most valuable performer to be Jack Palance, cast against type as Marvin's buddy. Palance is a lot of fun in the role, and it's nice to see him as other than the sneering villain. The rest of the film is non-clichéd, a bit slow at times, but otherwise engrossing and unusual.