The Shooting

The Shooting is a 1966 Western. A woman hires a former bounty hunter who is working a dead gold mine with his slow-witted friend to take her across the desert. While they are traveling, they are tracked by a gunman (played by Jack Nicholson).

I had never heard of this movie before. It's well worth watching. The style of dialog is interesting, sounding awkward but natural to the setting. The film is atmospheric, has interesting characters and a bit of mystery, and it isn't at all a typical Western of any sub-genre.

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Slant Magazine gives it 4 out of 4 stars and says, "The film's ending is a favorite among cinephilles and serves as a paradigm of Camus's thinking—both stoic and humane, it champions the power of nature over violence." Time Out calls it "Probably the first Western which really deserves to be called existential." Rotten Tomatoes gives it a critics score of 100%.