If not for the performances of Nicholson, Quaid and Lloyd, this western would be completely forgettable. A very slow-paced (at least initially) picture that doesn't warrant more than one viewing. Its hard to believe in Brando's character based on his performance. You could remove his character from the movie and it wouldn't detract from the story.The cinematography is realistic and appropriate for this time period. The chemistry between Lloyd and Nicholson is intriguing and it would be interesting to see them act together in a different movie.Some decent laughs (the train robbery with Nicholson), but the plot is flawed and not that interesting. This movie doesn't crack my top 100 of westerns.

It might have been a good movie, but Hollywood's kowtowing to actors with recent success ensured that it soundly disappointed those who watched the movie. Marlon Brando's "eccentric" performance proves that as great and magnificent an actor as he was, he was equally as bad when he was not reined in by a director and script. Arthur Penn must bear a lot of the guilt for allowing Brando such a free hand in trashing the movie. I doubt that Marlon's antics went without negative comments and complaints from his fellow actors. Here he was given free rein and ruined what might have been a good movie. Nicholson, Lloyd, Quaid, Forrest, Stanton and other gave good performances, but they are inundated by Marlon Brando's absurdly bad "eccentric" performance. He wasn't eccentric, just BAD! If you skip this one, you will be ahead.

I remember this Movie well; Mostly filmed in Billings, Mt.,Brando and Nicholson one afternoon while off set went to a well known local Beer Bar called "GRAMMA'S".After about an hour of drinking Both Brando and Nicholson were fairly intoxicated and thought throwing their Beer Glasses up in the air and having them crash on the floor was OK, after all we are Movie Stars, Wrong! The Bar owner Mr. Staley literally threw them out into the Parking Lot;Saying I don't care how big of hotshots they think they are,Their not going to disrespect my Bar or Me. It was classic to say the least.The Movie was alright but never close to "LITTLE BIG MAN" shot here in 1969.Sometimes even High Profile Celebrities make forgettable Films.,,S.M.

Starring two titans of cinema in Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson, The Missouri Breaks sees Arthur Penn (Bonnie & Clyde) direct, the screenplay provided by Thomas McGuane (Tom Horn) and John Williams composes the score. In the supporting cast are Harry Dean Stanton, Randy Quaid, Kathleen Lloyd, Frederic Forrest and John McLiam. With all these people in place the film was one of the most anticipated movies of the year. Anticipation that was not met at the time as the film became a critical and commercial failure. However, time has been kind to the piece and now it shows itself to be far better than the iffy reputation that's afforded it.The story is a sort of working of the Johnson County War that surfaced in the early 1890s in Wyoming, where newer ranchers tried to settle but were set upon by the more established cattle barons of the land. One of the tactics by the wealthier ranch owners was to hire gunmen to terrorise anyone they saw as a threat. Here in Penn's movie we see David Braxton (McLiam) ruthlessly deal with anyone who he sees as a threat to his property. However, when someone enacts revenge on him by hanging his foreman, Braxton hires himself a "Regulator" named Robert E. Lee Clayton (Brando) to seek and destroy as it were. This spells bad news for the rustling gang led by Tom Logan (Nicholson), especially since Logan has started to form a relationship with Braxton's daughter, Jane (Lloyd). Somethings gotta give and blood is sure to be spilt.The most popular word used in reviews for the film is eccentric, mostly in reference to Brando's performance. The big man was growing ever more erratic off the screen and sure enough he changed the make up of his character and improvised at his leisure. Yet it does work in the context of the movie. With his dandy nastiness playing off of an excellent Nicholson turn, McGuane's richly detailed screenplay gets added bite, particularly during the more solemn parts of the story; where patience would be tried were it not for the brogue Irish Clayton. With Penn at the helm it's no surprise to find the piece is an amalgamation of moods. Poignancy hangs heavy for the most part as we deal in the ending of an era and the need to move on. But Penn also delivers much frontier action and snatches of cheery comedy. Then there is the violence, which doubles in shock value on account of the leisurely pace that Penn has favoured. It's sad to think that one of the best splicers of moods was so upset at the reaction to his film he quit cinema for the next five years.The film, well more realistically the reaction to it, possibly sounded the death knell for the Western genre until Eastwood & Costner refused to let it die. The 70s was an intriguing decade for the Oater, with many of them veering between traditional and revisionist. But of the many that were produced, the ones that dealt with the passing of the era, where the protagonists are soon to be relics of a tamed wilderness, have an elegiac quality about them. Penn's movie is fit to sit alongside the likes of Monte Walsh, The Shootist and The Outlaw Josey Wales. Yes it's quirky and is slowly driven forward, but it has many qualities for the genre fan to gorge on. 7.5/10