Missouri Breaks Review

Missouri Breaks
An outlaw gang are pursued by flamboyant cattle baron 'regulator' who drapes his ballooning body in bizarre disguises and guns them down one by one.

by Kim Newman |
Published on
Release Date:

23 May 2003

Running Time:

122 minutes

Certificate:

15

Original Title:

Missouri Breaks

As the interesting flops of the 1970s are re-evaluated as outlaw classics, it's worth revisiting this amazingly-cast weirdo 1976 Western. Jack Nicholson and his gang (Randy Quaid, Frederic Forrest, Harry Dean Stanton) are pursued by flamboyant cattle baron 'regulator' Marlon Brando, who drapes his ballooning body in bizarre disguises (including see-it-to-believe-it pioneer drag) and guns them down one by one.

One of the mud, rags and beard school of sordid Wild West movies (Brando plugs one varmint in the outhouse), the film straggles all over the prairie, but affords a rare chance to see Hollywood's biggest hambones chewing on each other.

And what happened to Kathleen Lloyd? Her debut here should have made her a star.

Penn loses control of the cast, but the script has patches of brilliance.
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