You have to applaud Kirk Douglas because he takes Jack a relatively 2 dimensional character and makes him entertaining and interesting. It is in fact a very clever ending in many ways superior to the rest of the movie. It's strange because you expect something and it happens yet you are still left shocked and this is mixed in with a bit of ambiguity. Talking of which the drama side of "Lonely Are the Brave" works and delivers a surprising and disturbing ending. ![]() ![]() It just didn't deliver the depth of character exploration which I craved but gave drama instead. And I wanted to know why Sheriff Johnson was so laconic and harassed. But I felt I didn't really know any of the characters, I wanted to understand why Jack chose to be a loner, why he didn't want to be fenced in by modern living. What we get is moments of danger as Jack tries to lead his horse up the steep inclines accompanied by brief moments of action. But I can't but help feel that director David Miller missed a trick by not delivering more of a character exploration. Now this all very entertaining with a subtle stream of comedy running through it with the laconic Sheriff being harassed by his officers and Jack struggling with a mischievous horse. What we then get is Jack with his horse on the run, trying to make it to freedom through the rocky mountains whilst the police lead by Sheriff Morey Johnson try to capture him. Set up done with and we watch Jack meet up with his friend Paul in Prison and try to escape, "Lonely Are the Brave" then veers towards the very simple. The scene where he is charged at the Police station demonstrates it brilliantly as he has no identification on him at all much to the amazement of the charging officer. It's a well worked intro because it is slightly amusing whilst also showing the contrast between the modern busy world with walls and fences to the free roaming world where Jack lives. We watch as Jack a lone cowboy rides into what appears to be a 1950s town, a town with brick houses and busy highways where to help a friend out he gets thrown into prison to bust them both out. The story to "Lonely Are the Brave" is quite simple with just enough build up to make it interesting. ![]() But having collected his horse and headed into the hills, sheriff Morey ( Walter Matthau - Charade) and his force of police men are on his trail and will use anything such as Helicopter's and jeeps to track Jack down and get him back in side. Whilst Paul decides that he would rather do his time than have to live life on the run Jack can't live caged up and manages to escape. ![]() Deciding to help, Jack gets himself thrown inside so that he can then break himself and Paul free. Having learnt that his best friend Paul (Michael Kane) has got himself into some trouble, loner Jack ( Kirk Douglas - Champion) rides into town where he learns from Paul's wife Jerry ( Gena Rowlands - The Notebook) that he has been put in prison. Now I am one for an entertaining movie and there is a place for a movie which treats you visually and tells a story, but "Lonely Are the Brave" is a rich area for something much more, a study of the man trying to live life his way in a world which is all about containment and rules. But "Lonely Are the Brave" seems to be a movie which is there to entertain and not dig deeper under the surface of the characters. It is most certainly entertaining and watching Kirk Douglas playing a loner cowboy in a modern world grabs your attention as does the storyline. There is part of me which feels like "Lonely Are the Brave" from 1962 is a wasted opportunity to deliver a movie of depth.
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