Deviating from the mainstream western storyline, Monte Hellman’s The Shooting (1966) combines the plot of a mystery and the settings and characters of a western into a suspenseful tale of pursuit with a hidden purpose and a twist.
Off the screenplay by Carole Eastman, The Shooting follows the journey of former bounty-hunter Willett Gashade (Warren Oates) and his friend Coley (Will Hutchins) who are both hired by an unknown woman (Millie Perkins) who refuses to reveal her identity to them. As they escort her to her destination across the desert, another mysterious man Billy Spear (Jack Nicholson), who’s been following them, joins them. The journey becomes perilous and deadly as Gashade tries to figure out the real motive of the woman.
Written by Carole Eastman and produced by Hellman and Jack Nicholson, The Shooting is an unusual movie in the western genre and sort of misnamed whether for lack of better alternative titles for it or for getting the attention of western audiences (to whom shootouts of the western were the main attraction). Instead, the story is a mystery that gets dramatic in character and dialogue at many points in its course. The unnamed woman with her undisclosed intentions remains the nucleus of this mystery until the last scene that involves a shooting.
However, the mystery of the story continues after the movie has ended. The actual details of the backstory driving our Miss Nobody to her pursuit of a stranger (not giving spoilers here), what really happens to her after the shooting, and the fate of Spear are some of the major loose ends left to the viewer’s imagination. And while this may leave many unsatisfied, the movie on the whole is quite interesting with appealing characters and a decently executed story arc.
The Shooting is a western apart, well-suited to lovers of mystery and drama.
