Cliff Robertson set out to make two films in J.W. Coop (he worked on the screenplay as well as directed and starred), but in this case his effort winds up as only half a good movie.He starts with an interesting premise -- a former rodeo cowboy emerges from prison c.1970, tries to pick up where he left off, and finds that both society and the rodeo game have moved on. The first half of the film is pretty good, dealing with J.W.'s efforts to adjust to his senile mama (Geraldine Page) and to a society where "the kids, the commies, and the unions" (so says one character) are ruining the country.But when J.W. actually starts rodeoing, the picture shifts to an underdog-making-good-in-a-cutthroat-world scenario, as the old cowboy becomes an unlikely dark-horse contender for the national rodeo championship (competing against a younger rider with more corporate savvy). The ending of the film is unsatisfying and leaves us feeling incomplete -- there's more story to be told, but Robertson leaves us to feel sorry for a guy who, frankly, is not beaten down so much by "the establishment" as by his own pride.Also unsatisfying is Page's role in the film. She appears in one scene toward the beginning of the movie, and then she disappears. Maybe that's reality, but art provides the opportunity to inject more of her story and her relationship with J.W. into the film. That opportunity is missed. We do learn some more about J.W.'s family as the film progresses, but there's no closure on his mom-and-pop issues, although I suppose one could argue that the lack of parental comfort has something to do with the end of the movie.Robertson the actor is pretty darned good in this film, capturing J.W.'s initial bewilderment, suspicion and frustration with the '70s, and later his delight at having gained the love of a younger woman (Christina Ferrare). And Robertson the director has a nice eye for small towns and "the sticks" (there's a scene at a rural crossroads that's beautifully shot). But he's undercut by Robertson the screenwriter -- it's just difficult to buy J.W. as a contender for a major championship right out of prison (even if he has been rodeoing successfully there). And the film bites off more than it can chew in trying to comment both on social change and the rodeo life. This could have been a far stronger movie if it concentrated on one or the other -- and, to be honest, the encounter of a '50s guy with the early '70s was the far more interesting part of the film.

This hard to get, modern western is definitely one of the best film by Mr. Robertson, a fine, underrated actor and director. J.W. Coop, gives a realistic and honest view of a lonesome, luckless but brave man, an ex-con who tries and fails in the rodeo world and is also an underdog in life. Simple, brilliant story with Robertson's flawless acting matched by the late, grand Geraldine Page (as his mom). A fine cameo by the great character actor, R.G. Armstrong, and for the eye, there's the beautiful Cristina Ferrare who disappeared from films to marry Mr. John DeLorean (if somebody remembers the car in Back to the Future films.) So, catch it if you can!

just reading the blurb and knowing that Cliff Robertson was a part of the film was enough for me to know that this was going to be a gem [although Robertson has made some horrible movies]. I got a pal of mine at work to run me a copy iny], and it surpassed my expectations. This film increased my resolve to attend rodeo school. Because it was something I always wanted and at forty-one years of age and never having ridden a horse I gave my wife and daughter a kiss and piled in my car for Georgia and the time of my life. Why rodeo? In the words of the author of RODEO: the Suicide Circuit, because it is the last place in these hard times where a man with nothing can meet it head on on his own *#*# terms and maybe do something. JW Coop conveys this perfectly. But this movie is not simply about rodeo. Like the film, the SAND PEBBLES, a man is trying to translate his existence into something meaningful. It is about a nobody going after the only thing in his life that makes sense. Just writing about it gets my blood up.Some would disagree with the ending, but I can see it no other way. If you want to see a movie about a man going after life this is one film sure to satisfy. I give JW COOP a three star [out of four] and it stands as one of my favorites.

Growing up in the Mid_West, the concept of `art' film was quite foreign to me in 1971. The first time I saw J.W. Coop, it struck me like a thunderbolt. Lots of ambin' around, reaction shots, quiet confidence, pseudo-documentary style, unspoken sub text…WOW.A labor love for Cliff Robertson, JW COOP is an indie-like movie developed in the 1970's studio system, where titles like POSEIDON ADVENTURE and TOWERING INFERNO were the only things that made sense at the time.As a result, studio-type compromises are evident throughout--Christina Ferrare is atrocious as the hippie-chick who interjects JW's dust covered mind-set to the present. I'm certain the original script-by Gary Cartwright and the ingenious Bud Shrake was likely funnier…and edgier.What's left is still engaging, and the rest of the supporting cast is solid, the story interesting--spiced with wonderful little vignettes throughout. I highly recommend.