It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Most people are going to enjoy this film. The story builds up well with some wonderful action set-pieces and montages, even though it could certainly benefit from further trimming. Coleen Gray making too much of her one scene would be twice as effective at half the length; and as for Joanne Dru, she doesn't belong in the film at all. True, she makes an extremely late entrance, but the story got along quite effectively without her. All she does is to slow down the pace and dissipate most of the tension. Mind you, the plot has some gaping holes. For instance, Wayne claims that he's too poor to buy some sacks of flour and few pounds of beans, yet he has no trouble engaging a band of badmen and buying them ammunition! And what a neat co-incidence that one of the pursuing Indians was wearing that charm bracelet that belonged - of course - to Wayne's mother! Wayne is his usual ruggedly roughshod self, Clift is less neurotic than usual, Brennan minus more teeth is more talkative than ever and even has an off-camera commentary as well! A fascinating assembly of support players includes the Careys, father and son (though the two never meet), Tom Tyler (briefly glimpsed), Paul Fix as a whinger saved from a hanging and Chief Yowlachie surprisingly amusing as a comic relief assistant cook and bottlewasher!

This greatest of Westerns and most American of all films is so famous as to hardly need a formal review as a movie, and at any rate discussion of it is easily found in countless printed and on line sources. For those who've never seen it, I'll only say that this 1948 Howard Hawks epic of John Wayne, with his adopted son Montgomery Clift and sidekick Walter Brennan undertaking the first major cattle drive on the Chisholm Trail is one of those supreme classics, like Hitchcock's Vertigo or Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai, which is as appealing as entertainment for a general audience as it is impressive as a work of art to critics. It's also undoubtedly John Wayne's best role -- reportedly John Ford upon seeing it exclaimed, "I didn't know the son of a ----- could act!" Noted film critic David Thomson has written that this is his favorite movie.The film can be found on various DVDs and collections, of which the 2014 Criterion set is by far the one to prefer.

Tom Dunston (played by John Wayne) needs to drive his herd of 10,000 or so cattle to market. The market is 1,000 miles away and the trip will be an arduous one. The stubborn, uncompromising Dunston is often at loggerheads with a young man who works for him, Matt Garth (Montgomery Clift), and the rift threatens the expedition. A classic Western. Epic in its plot and canvas. Great direction by Howard Hawks. Takes a while to get going but once it does it moves along briskly. Good action mixed with convincing human drama.John Wayne gets top-billing but Montgomery Clift steals the show. Great performance by Clift. Wayne puts on his usual swaggering performance, but here seems less one-dimensional than usual. Good supporting cast.

Red River (1948): Dir: Howard Hawks / Cast: John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Walter Brennan, Joanne Dru, Mickey Kuhn: Western classic with a title that not only addresses an overwhelming cattle drive but it also symbolizes the survival of generations. John Wayne plays a stubborn cattle hand named Thomas Dunson whose wagon train is wiped out by Indians leaving a lone boy survivor. Several years pass and Dunson's successful rise of cattle and selling beef comes under threat when poverty strikes so he recruits several men to drive the cattle to Missouri where a chance to sell the cattle is promising. From here the screenplay becomes extremely episodic with a stampede caused by someone's idiocy. Eventually a division is caused when Dunson's leadership becomes too heavy handed and his cattle is overtaken. Howard Hawks captures the era but the climax is corny with its fistfight make up conclusion. Wayne is effective as the hard driven Dunson who demands commitment when a task is underway. Montgomery Clift is superb as the grown boy who will challenge Dunson's authority. Walter Brennan plays Dunson's partner through life. Only Joanne Dru is pathetic as a woman in love with Clift after an awkward meeting. Mickey Kuhn plays the younger version of what would become Montgomery Clift. Theme of generation works when the screenplay drowns in corny clichés. Score: 6 ½ / 10