The Shooting

Monte Hellman reinvents the Western genre with THE SHOOTING, a cryptic tale of revenge that has become an underground masterpiece of existentialism. The story follows Willett Gashade (Warren Oates), an ex-bounty hunter who returns home searching for his brother, only to discover that he has disappeared. He is met by Coley (Will Hutchins), a frazzled cowboy who is recovering from having witnessed the murder of his best friend. When a beautiful but tempestuous mystery woman (Millie Perkins) arrives, Gashade reluctantly agrees to escort her through the Utah desert. Along the way, Gashade begins to suspect that she is trailing someone, which is confirmed after Billy Spear (Jack Nicholson), a ruthless bounty hunter, joins the party. Unsure of their target, Gashade and Coley continue to inch forward, leery of Billy SpearÆs menacing presence. When Gashade finally discovers the hunted victim, he is left stunned and bewildered. Hellman's subversive, enigmatic tale, shot concurrently with RIDE IN THE WHIRLWIND, assures the director a place in Western history. Nicholson and Oates, who appear in almost all of HellmanÆs early films, slip into their roles with the ease and smoothness that has turned them into acting legends, giving cinephiles yet another reason to call THE SHOOTING an unadulterated classic.