There Ain't No Good Guys

But there are plenty of bad guys, and do you and me, do we just disagree*?

For as much as I like Westerns, I'm pretty unfamiliar with sam Peckinpah films. I've seen part of The Wild Bunch, most of it actually, but not all. Beyond that, I can't think of many. So it was nice that Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid was running last night.

It certainly reminded me of the parts of The Wild Bunch I'd seen. There isn't anyone I'd call "good" in the movie, just varying levels of "bad". It may not even be a case of of varying levels, just varying objectives. In this case, Billy (Kris Kristofferson) escapes custody, and Sheriff Pat Garrett (James Coburn) is supposed to recapture him, which he gets around to eventually. Yes, Pat rides all over the territory, asking about Billy, but he doesn't seem terribly invested in finding him for some time. Even Billy comments at one point that Pat has given him about as much time as he can, suggesting he hasn't seriously pursued the Kid.

The two have both spent time on each side of the law, since Billy spent at least some time working for the cattleman Chisum, enforcing his dictates. If what we see from his current ranch hands is any indication, involves shooting anyone that comes near the cattle, and killing sheep and their owners. Which jibes with what I read about in The Great Range Wars last summer. The way it seems to work is, the cattle kings use their money to dictate what laws are enforced (people with money unfairly exerting their influence is unheard of these days, naturally), and the guys who can get things done, like Pat and Billy, move back and forth between law and outlaw, depending on what's important to them at the moment.

For Garrett, who seems older than Billy, he wants a little more stability, a home and so on, so being sheriff appeals, even if nobody seems to like him. Probably because they all remember when he was no different from Billy. Then again, nobody in town batted an eye when Billy killed two deputies, demanded a fast horse, then stole someone else's horse when the first horse threw him, so they don't mind outlaws. I guess the difference is Billy is pretending to be a lawman like Pat, so perhaps they appreciate the honesty. Or he's just more charismatic than Pat.

It's interesting that Pat goes on the road, and at one point messes around with six different ladies simultaneously. Meanwhile, Billy seems to have found a specific lady he likes, which might be the sort of thing that convinces a guy to settle down. I don't think that's how Billy was gonna go, but she still meant enough he came back to see her, and that got him killed. Pat and Billy walk the same trails, they just aren't on the same one at the same time. They do both carry death around with them. People Billy likes get killed, and everyone (save one) Garrett requests help from winds up dead.

One scene I didn't understand. When Garrett's camped out by the river, he sees a family rafting down the river. The boy keeps tossing bottles into the river for the old man to shoot, and the old man keeps missing. Garrett pulls out his revolver and takes a shot, and also misses the bottle. The old man takes a shot at him, Garrett picks up his rifle, they both take aim, then both decide not to shoot at each other. The raft continues down the river. Really not sure of the point. Is it that Garrett's too old to be fooling around, shooting at other people's bottles? Billy was attacked by three guys early in the movie, where he didn't know why they were after him. Garrett could be in much the same boat, never knowing when he's going to meet up with someone he crossed in the past.

* Originally, I was planning for the titles to follow yesterday's "I Meant What I Said", with "And I Said What I Meant", etc., etc. This fits better for today's post, though.