The Hired Hand

Another in the great string of Oates movies to finally come out on dvd. He's flawless as usual, Fonda is great, the old weathered wife does a good job too. Wonderfully shot. The best thing about Oates is his facial expressions, the way he frowns and gestures, he would have been a great silent actor. I'll take Oates over Nicholson any day, I love Jack too, but Oates was the best of his time....

This unheralded subtle film should be a "must see" for students of western US history and film buffs alike. The plot is a believable story involving characters that are NOT larger than life. These are people we could expect to know - only 125 years ago. As others have observed, Verna Bloom is THE western/frontier single mother in this film. She looks the part and shows us the day-to-day hard work of her life. Warren Oates has always been the classic prototypical "cowboy" and never elsewhere is he more perfectly cast. Finally comes Peter Fonda. Who could have thought that he could go from the drug-running renegade of Easy Rider to the thoughtful character struggling with deep conflicts of loyalty and justice? It is a tour-de-force that creeps up on you in its quiet way.

This film works on many levels. The story, the characters, the cinematography, the music, the dialog are all top flight - especially since the dialog is sparse and punctuates moments of thoughtful non-verbal imagery. If you want to see it your best chance is on Bravo or some public broadcasting service station. Please, PLEASE - somebody put this one on video or DVD. In genre this film deserves a solid nine out of ten. In general at least a 7.5 out of ten - try to see it!

I had forgotten about renting "Hired Hand" until I saw the DVD in my mailbox. Looking at the printing on the disk, I shook my head, thinking the movie had to have been a mistake. But the whole film simply embraced my senses and I didn't want them to let go, even as the film ended.

Visually, it was no typical Western, Spaghetti or traditional. In fact, this isn't the kind of movie to watch if you're into the drama of the shoot-out or chase. Emotionally, it captured nuances and a sensitivity that the likes of masters John Ford and Sergio Leone steered clear of. Please, watch this film in its completely, and then play it with the commentary of director Peter Fonda. He adds some interesting information, including that the voice of Larry Hagman was even used for just a moment at one point in the film.

The characters gallop far from the typical. The movie simply looks western, but doesn't feel western. Nor do the sounds, as the music was beautifully atmospheric. This film should have been included for submission to the Academy Awards. The cinematography might make some feel somewhat put off by the layers of fades and dissolves, but relax and let yourself become absorbed by the acting, writing and production.

Overall, this movie, while it has an incredible climax, lives through subtlety, which is captured by a director who seems to been a labor of love.

I'm surprised at the maturity Peter Fonda the director displays with THE HIRED HAND. It'll be a fruitless search to attempt to find a western resonating with the ambiance and themes of THH in its time. It would take quite a few years for the American western to embrace this new take on the mythos of the old west - far removed from the works of John Ford, Anthony Mann or Howard Hawks.

THH relates a small but intimate drama about three men travelling west for California - the gold, the ocean, the cold beer, it's a promised land of sorts for drifters like them. After a deadly incident in a small, rundown village where they bury the younger companion, the other two, Harry (Peter Fonda) and Artch (Warren Oates) decide to turn back and instead of California return to Harry's wife - whom he abandoned six years ago to become a drifter.

Upon their return Harris finds a frigid and distant wife, reluctant to have him back. She satisfied her natural sexual frustration over the years by sleeping with the men she hired - and that's exactly how she takes Harry back, a hired hand to do work around the house, until he can earn his way back as her husband.

This little vucolic drama unfolds in some neck of the woods, unpretentious and stripped of all fat, laconic as much as it is melancholic. A simple story superbly told, with small nuances and glances and full images that stand in for a barrage of dialogue and the actors hitting all the right notes, underplaying it enough to suck you in the heart of it all.

It is only natural then that Vilmos Zsigmond's cinematography matches the tone of the script. Beautiful exterior shots turn the landscape, in turns rugged and comforting, into another character. The only misstep, in my opinion, in the visual aspect of THH is the overuse of montages - Fonda superimposes image upon image as a transitory device which doesn't always work that well. I prefer full, clean images as far as that goes.

I can't find any major faults with THH - apart from that it's not what many western fans might be looking for which is of course not an inherent flaw of the film. The third act builds into a gritty and violent revenge subplot that includes a short but terrific shootout whose outcome is suffused with bitter irony. Apart from that however THH doesn't have anything in the way of action, no wild galloping through the prairie, no robbers holding up banks and no cavalries chasing away injuns.

As much sombre as it is elegiac, heartfelt and poignant, THH might be little seen but remains one of the best westerns of the 70's. Fans of UNFORGIVEN, OPEN RANGE and the recent THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES will find something to appreciate.

I'll echo the sentiments in (most of) the other comments. A quiet and deeply poignant movie that drew me in powerfully. Fonda's more recent movie, "Ulee's Gold", had much of the same feeling about it. Highly recommended, if you can find it.