This review won't explain the movie's plot, there are enough of those already. I really do like Westerns, but it's usually easy to criticize them for being so unrealistic. But, The Hired Hand was REALLY well done and probably shows life in the 1800's far better than most movies. The costumes, saddles, firearms, buildings and even the men's scruffy beards were period correct. The movie moves slow, as was life during that time period. Violence was shown as the exception, not an everyday occurrence so don't expect the classic big shoot em up at the end. The acting…quite, deliberate, wonderful. (Just as a side note, I was amazed by how much Peter Fonda resembled Clint Eastwood in appearance and voice.) If you appreciate movies that depict real life situations you will enjoy this one. You should also watch a great film called, Meek's Cutoff. Like this movie, be prepared to sit back, relax and become engrossed in the time period. A time when life was hard and just to survive, everyday people had to make hard choices.

Peter Fonda stars in and directs "The Hired Hand", acting with his frequent co-star and real- life good friend Warren Oates. Peter plays Harry Collings, a cowboy who abandoned his wife Hannah (Verna Bloom) and daughter (Megan Denver) years ago. For a long time he's been roaming the West with Arch (Oates) and Dan Griffen (Robert Pratt). But now he gets it into his head to return to the family homestead and work at mending his relationship. This he wants to do by doing odd jobs around the farm.Alan Sharp, who also wrote "Night Moves", one of the great gems of the 1970s, concocted this narrative. As directed by Peter Fonda, it's done in a lyrical, beautiful way, but some viewers can just see certain things as pure self-indulgence on Fondas' part. However, there's no denying that this Western drama / character study, in its best moments, is a gentle, sensitive film. Granted, there is some ugliness and violence in the first act that will be paid off with a melodramatic finish to the third act. But it's so lovingly shot (by cinematography legend Vilmos Zsigmond) and wonderfully acted (especially by Bloom), that viewers can fall under its spell. There's an effectively odious supporting performance by folksy character actor Severn Darden as a dubious lawman named McVey.At its core, it's a sober, thoughtful look at a man who must make a tough decision regarding loyalty.Seven out of 10.

its beauty is almost spectacular. and result of high science of detail. portrait of West life, it is pure poetry. precise, gracefully, delicate, film of silence and small gestures, using admirable cinematography and reflecting a wise vision of Peter Fonda about a world who, in many films, is represented only by the outside aspects. a film about soul of few people, a land and desire. refined and convincing. powerful and strange because it has the courage and force and science to define in deeper manner the genre. one of rare Westerns who impose the essence of a style of life, importance of its values and the need of happiness. a film about solitude, family and duty. about the ambiguity of relations out of classic definitions. an admirable work. and, out of doubts, a masterpiece.

I can't give this a 10, like all the other reviewers I see have. However, this was a very strong film. The filming was breathtaking. There were just beautiful scenes of the West. I also liked the towns. The "evil" town was miserably poor and dull. That is authentic. The ranch where his wife and daughter lived was in the boring, dull prairie (which most of the "Old West" really was) with gossipy, private townies.I also liked the idea of three males, one middle aged (Oates), one in his thirties (Fonda), and a little known actor playing the youthful man named Dan . The youthful man is naive. He goes up to some local toughs and acts overly friendly. He pays the price of his life for this naiveté. Fonda's character is the wise and shy, not so young man. Warren Oates' drifter is the older warrior, who knows his position and place.Life is hard, and life is rough. There is no friendliness in this film, other than the little girl. The man's rapprochement towards his estranged life is very beautiful and complicated. She has grown cynical, and he has grown weary. He doesn't even know really why he returned home, other than weariness.The parts that are weak are the beginning. What is this little girl floating in the rapids? Is she a doll or a dead girl? Why do they let her float downstream? Does this represent no innocence in the West? Secondly, what does the shooting of the two men at the home where Dan's horse is have to do with the relevance of the plot? Is it showing how brutal these two drifters have become even if they feel they are justly in retribution for the death of Dan? Does the shooting of the man's feet represent the crucification of Christ? Am I reading too much into this? Does this shooting of these two men represent the sin of man, and therefore they have to be repaid later for all their sins in life? This movie was very good. I like that Verna Bloom is a worn woman of the prairie, who is just tired of being alone. Maybe, it is her selfishness in wanting to keep her husband at home when he has to return to rescue his friend from the kidnappers that has to be repaid with his loss of life. Warren Oates has always been one of my favorite non-leading actors (except for in Dillinger). He is very real as someone who is a drifter, who has accepted his path and fate. He is a good complement to the younger man who has become too sober and too serious about everything. The flaws in the movie I have highlighted. I wish there was a little bit more obvious cues from the filmmakers to show what direction the symbolism was going, so the viewer could be more clear about what the message of the film was. In closing, I especially liked the ending, when Fonda's character says something like "I knew there was something wrong with going back to this town". It was as if the town revisited was an omen all along, representing the very sins of the life he was trying to leave behind.