Classic Movie Review: 'The Outlaw Josey Wales' Starring Clint Eastwood

The Outlaw Josey Wales stars Clint Eastwood in the title role of a man with a deep and abiding dedication to revenge. When Union soldiers in Missouri after the Civil War, murder Josey’s wife and son, he quickly joins up with a group Southern resistance fighters, led by Fletcher (John Vernon). This resistance however, doesn’t last long and soon enough, Fletcher is advising his men to turn themselves over to the enemy in exchange for their lives.

All the men agree that the cause is lost and go to hand over their weapons, all except for Josey Wales. Fletcher has cut a deal with a powerful Senator to get all of the resistance to stand down but when Fletcher says that Josey Wales has refused to stand down, the Senator flies into a rage. The Senator orders a commander named Red Legs to gather a party and hunt down Josey Wales and make him an example to others who might consider resisting the Union.

Then, the Senator breaks his word to Fletcher and Union soldiers begin executing the now unarmed resistance members. This causes Josey Wales to leap into the fray. Josey rides in on his horse, takes control of a large chain gun and begins to mow down Union soldiers, even taking aim eventually at the Senator and Red Legs. Josey kills as many men as he can before running out of bullets and is left with just enough time to ride off to safety with one of his fellow resistance members.

Unfortunately, the younger man, Jamie (Sam Bottoms) was shot and badly injured in the execution attempt. Josey works to keep the young man alive and for a time it appears he might survive. Sadly, after rescuing Josey from a pair of bounty hunters, Jamie succumbs to his injuries and leaves Josey to go on alone. Josey is on his way to Indian country where he hopes he can hide out and figure out how he can take revenge on Red Legs and his men whom Josey knows are the men who killed his family.

Josey Wales isn’t alone for very long, indeed, he won’t be alone for the rest of the movie as a gaggle of people begin to fall under Josey’s protection. First up is Lone Watie (Chief Dan George), a talkative former Indian Chief who laments his getting older. Lone Watie was once a powerful Chief but age and war has left him without a tribe. Where he once met a sitting U.S President as a representative of Indiansm he is now alone and using the last of his wits and cunning as a forest thief.

Next to join Josey’s unlikely tribe is Little Moonlight (Geraldine Kearns). A Navajo woman far separated from her tribe, Little Moonlight pledges her servitude to Josey Wales after he saves her from rapists at a trading post. After he murders the rapists, Little Moonlight gathers supplies and begins to follow Josey despite the fact that she doesn’t speak English and he doesn’t speak her native tongue. Lone Watie is thankfully able to translate a little.

The final part of this unlikely group are a grandmother and granddaughter, Grandma Sarah (Paula Trueman) and Laura Lee (Sandra Locke). The pair are traveling from Kansas to Texas to take up the land and farm owned by Grandma Sarah’s late son who died in the Civil War. They cross paths with Josey after he rescues them from marauders who were planning on selling the women and their goods to a nearby tribe of Comanches, led by Ten Bears (Will Sampson).

In the best scene in The Outlaw Josey Wales, Josey manages to stave off an attack on the farm by the Comanches by riding directly up to Ten Bears and asking for peace. Ten Bears, somehow knowing who Josey Wales is and that he has opposed the American government, welcomes the truce. The two men share a blood oath, literally, and Josey Wales is able to return to the farm with a promise that the Comanches will live in peace with the family.

I enjoyed the chemistry of Ten Bears and Josey Wales, two men who have seen it all and share an understanding that goes beyond words. It doesn’t matter how Ten Bears knows who Josey Wales is, he can see in Josey’s manner a sense of his history and that Josey carries himself with respect for the Comanche Chief. The mutual respect and understanding is a nice counterpoint to the viciousness exhibited by the Senator and his soldiers.

I also enjoyed the scene wherein Josey lays out the plan of attack for his band of very much non-soldiers. Josey demonstrates leadership and smarts as he shows the women how to defend themselves and the clever advantages that Grandma Sarah’s son has built into this home. A lot of movies will tell you how competent a character is, it’s nice to watch a movie that shows you how competent a character is.

One of Eastwood’s strengths as a director, in his good movies, is his ability to show and not simply tell. A scene where Fletcher explains how tough Josey is, for instance, is followed by a scene where Josey shows how tough he is. A scene where Josey’s legend has preceded him among the people he is meeting is followed by a scene where Josey shows why he’s become a legend. It’s very basic in terms of storytelling but it’s effective because The Outlaw Josey Wales is a rather basic movie.

The strength of The Outlaw Josey Wales is minimalism. Instead of the garish excess of Eastwood’s ego, which has caused his most recent works such as The Mule to suffer, Eastwood lets the story proceed and allow the character to emerge rather than be an extension of his own personal legend building. I won’t call it humble, he’s still the director and the badass leading man, but it’s not obnoxious in the way movies like Gran Torino, among other modern Eastwood movies, have become.

The Outlaw Josey Wales is the classic on the latest episode of the Everyone's a Critic Movie Review Podcast. It's paired with Clint's newest movie, Cry Macho, which debuted in theaters and on HBO Max on September 17th.