I'll tell you why so serious

As Good As It Gets

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Audie Murphy Over John Wayne Any Day. Real Life War Hero Audie Murphy was an Admired Man who was Brave, Courageous, and True. He Admitted that Acting was a Battle He Never Won. With a Likable Screen Persona He Soldered through a Career including many a Western. This was One of His Best.A Solid Cast of B-Movie Actors, Striking Color Cinematography, more Violent than usual for the Time, some Truly Good vs Evil Characters, and Philosophical Musing make this an Above Average Entry in the Wagonload of Westerns in the Time Period (1950-Early 1960's).It's a Grueling Task for the Make-Shift Posse on the Trail of some Hideous Bad-Guys lead by Vic Morrow and Lee Van Cleef. Audie and John Saxon reach Deep for some Soul Searching and the Ever Elusive, Nasty and Clever Outlaws show some Serious Signs of the Change about to Occur in Hollywood.A Must See for Western Fans, especially Audie Murphy Cultists. The Story is well told and as Entertaining as All Get Out as these things go. This is one that the Most Decorated Military Hero in History can be Proud.

better than average Audie Murphy western with more sharply defined characters than usual - plus a good script that brings freshness - and even fun - to the heavily traveled chase 'em plotthe actors help a lot - Robert Keith as the grizzled ex Civil War soldier who keeps trying to take over the posse - Rudolph Acosta as an Indian trying to be accepted - John Saxon as a soft Easterner reluctantly shoved into posse duty - Paul Carr as an eager young man handy with pistols - to name a few - somehow the script makes this diverse group interesting without making them annoying - the one notable exception is the 1-dimensional quality of the kidnapped girl as written - fortunately - the role was given over to the way-too-talented Zohra Lampert - and she brings this small part to lifethe represents the type of effort that makes genre enjoyable

This western starts with the bad guys, among them Lee Van Cleef invading a town named Paradise and by taking hostages managing to rob the bank, even though they are in minority. Vic Morrow is the cruel Crip, who seems to be the leader. They leave town taking a woman, Helen (Zohra Lampert). Audie Murphy is Cole, who will lead the posse. The best thing about the film are the action scenes. Perhaps because Murphy was a war hero, his performance in a shootout seems more real than what we are used to see. John Saxon is Kern, a New Yorker who is working for the bank and which is sent along in order to see that the money gets back. He hates the West and never rode a horse before, so part of the fun of the film is seeing how he will deal with his task.

A reluctant deputy takes an even more reluctant posse after 4 dangerous thugs who killed several townspeople and left with a hostage. The posse is so inept that several of them are gunned down while engaging the enemy on 3 or 4 occasions. Ol' Murph tried to keep them in line but they were mostly pretty hopeless. Lots of gunplay made for a good western, even if it was a little lame.