The Missouri Breaks

(Arthur Penn/1976/USA)

Part screwball comedy, part counter culture free love romance and part revenge tale, but all western, The Missouri Breaks comes under the heading of mid 70’s cinematic curiosity and is often overlooked. Starring Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson it packs a mighty punch of idiosyncratic acting that adds to its charm as a result. Nicholson exudes his quirked, smiling rogue shtick as Tom Logan but you’d be forgiven for thinking he plays things straight in comparison to the calculated eccentricities of Brando’s Lee Clayton character. Entering the film like a wild west jester with an atrociously put on Irish accent the wild, farcical elements are slowly pared away, even the accent, as Clayton moves closer and closer to being the assassin he’s hired to be. It’s hugely enjoyable and just one element in this hot pot of a film that also boasts a supporting cast of Randy Quaid and Harry Dean Stanton. Kathleen Lloyd is excellent as a foil to Nicholson in the romantic sub plot too, my first time seeing her onscreen. Special mention has to go for John Williams score though, it is a fantastic mesh of American folk and bluegrass with what can only be described as 70’s funk synth and at times veers towards free jazz noodlings but all in a hillbilly twanged vibe. Well worth a watch and contains one of the best lines ever delivered in a film:

Logan: It’s the way it happens, isn’t it, Cal?

Cal: I wouldn’t know, not since that dog of mine put his tongue on the butter.

(3.5/5)