The screenwriter wrote the movie based on Willie's album. He and Willie directed and produced it together--and it shows. The song is better than the movie, but not really enough to support nearly 2 hours of story. When you write a song, you don't have to explain how a religious fellow becomes a drifter who shoots people--you just start and end the song where it feels right.
In the movie, most of the plot makes little sense. A preacher drags his young citified wife to Montana to a godless town terrorized by a rogue family, ignores her unhappiness until she leaves with a former suitor, then kills them both.
Morgan Fairchild has about a dozen lines total. None of them are memorable. The preacher kills another townswoman who has turned to prostitution and tries to rob him. In a typical western, zero women get shot by the hero, so this is a not-so-refreshing change. Katharine Ross has a much better role (though very little dialogue) and gets a chance to act a little. Her character is the best in the movie.
The second half of the film is a lot more watchable, though still fairly unrealistic. The sheriff vacillates from his original apathy to helping the preacher try to reform the town...to hunting him down after he kills his wife...to becoming a drunk who wants someone to kill him (the sheriff)...to joining back up with the preacher in a typical last stand that snuffs out the bad guys. The preacher and the sheriff have all the good lines...and there really aren't that many. Music: A-; movie: D+
In the movie, most of the plot makes little sense. A preacher drags his young citified wife to Montana to a godless town terrorized by a rogue family, ignores her unhappiness until she leaves with a former suitor, then kills them both.
Morgan Fairchild has about a dozen lines total. None of them are memorable. The preacher kills another townswoman who has turned to prostitution and tries to rob him. In a typical western, zero women get shot by the hero, so this is a not-so-refreshing change. Katharine Ross has a much better role (though very little dialogue) and gets a chance to act a little. Her character is the best in the movie.
The second half of the film is a lot more watchable, though still fairly unrealistic. The sheriff vacillates from his original apathy to helping the preacher try to reform the town...to hunting him down after he kills his wife...to becoming a drunk who wants someone to kill him (the sheriff)...to joining back up with the preacher in a typical last stand that snuffs out the bad guys. The preacher and the sheriff have all the good lines...and there really aren't that many. Music: A-; movie: D+