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The character is written endearingly enough that it’s kind of forgivable that he’s being played by Dino, though. What the script—co-written by Leigh Brackett, who would later help write The Empire Strikes Back — does well is establish a group of characters whose traits are obvious without seeming too one-dimensional or predictable. We have Chance, a single-minded and tough guy; we have Dude, who wants to be redeemed but needs to redeem himself first; we have Stumpy (Walter Brennan), the lovable old coot; we have Feathers (Angie Dickinson), the smart young woman who’s tougher than she looks; and we have Colorado (Ricky Nelson), a brash upstart. While I could criticize the film for not being more three-dimensional, many great films whose job is first to solely entertain don’t dig deep with their characters, nor do they need to.

The biggest problem with Rio Bravo is the lack of a truly frightening villain. We are constantly being told about how tough Nathan Burdette is and why Chance should fear his, yes, chances of being able to take down this mean rancher. We know that Burdette has a lot of cronies and henchmen to do his dirty work, but Chance takes them down pretty quickly, because he’s John Wayne and of course he can take these guys down. The reality of the situation is the true problem: even though I’m watching this more than 50 years after it was released, I know that John Wayne is going to get the girl (yes, he and Angie Dickinson get involved in the movie) and beat the bad guys. There is zero tension here, and what’s more, the action in the nearly 150-minute-long film doesn’t get going for nearly two full hours, so there’s little shooting.

Some people love John Wayne, some people love his movies, and there are some people who just love entertaining films of any genre. I love a good movie like the next guy, but I was hoping for more from Rio Bravo. Plenty of respected critics have gone nuts for the movie, and while I can kind of see why, I wonder if part of it is just nostalgia for a simpler time at the movies. There’s nothing wrong with movies that only want to entertain you, but even then, I have to feel some suspense for the good guys. I know that John McClane is going to win in Die Hard, but the writers and directors keep us guessing as to how he’s going to survive. John Wayne’s characters got into some scrapes, but did you ever really think he’d get seriously hurt? Rio Bravo is a well-made Western, but it’s not as remarkable as I’d been led to believe.

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